A Taste of Fall

We are finally starting to get some Fall-like weather here--lots of rain, but beautifully temperate days with nice breezes, too. I love it! If I could just get over this nasty bronchitis I'd be so happy!

Livi is doing incredibly well! As of this evening we have moved her jaw out 10 mm! You can really tell a difference. And she's tolerating it so well! No pain at all that I can tell. She is on antibiotics, but no other medications. We've also got her started back in speech therapy finally and, while she doesn't like it very much, we are already seeing some good results from it. Her new physical therapist will start on Friday and we should be getting an occupational therapist going in the next week, as well. Between those three and her cognitive therapist she's got a pretty full plate these days!

Speaking of full plates... you wouldn't believe how her appetite has suddenly picked up! She's eating much more now than she was before the two surgeries and drinking much more, too. I expect to see another growth spurt real soon.

We go back to the surgeon on Monday of next week for her next follow up appointment. I'm hoping that we will be able to stop the screw turning then and remove the rods. Then she'll have to wear the internal pieces another 6 weeks or so and we'll go back to have those removed. I expect it will mean another hospital stay, but hopefully only for a day or two at most. In the meantime, Livi continues to amaze all of us with her progress and her cheerful attitude!

~ Jeana

On the Down Hill Side

Livi's surgery went very well on Thursday. She was in the OR for about 2 hours and then in recovery for about 1.5 hours before they took her to her room. She was in a lot of pain all day Thursday and most of Friday, but they kept her on morphine every two hours to deal with that. Thursday she slept most of the day away and Friday she dozed in and out, but spent the whole day in my arms. She wouldn't let me put her down for more than a minute--she needed Mommy love big time! That evening she did go for a little walk around the ICU and laughed a couple times at jokes. My friend Diane came to visit and held Livi for a couple hours so I could go home and get a much needed shower and meal. While I was gone Livi's 2nd IV (she pulled out the first one) got bent and had to be replaced. Poor thing!

On Saturday Livi was much better and actually let me sleep a bit, too. She wasn't nearly as clingy and walked around quite a bit. Saturday afternoon we did the first turning of the screws and she didn't even flinch. That evening they took her off the morphine and put her on an oral pain medicine that seems to be enough for her. She is eating a bit--her whole jaw and chin is swollen and it's hard to get her mouth open very wide, but she doesn't seem to be in much pain at all. She's been eating mac and cheese, yogurt and cream of chicken soup. Good comfort food! This morning they said Livi was doing so good that we could go home if I was comfortable with the screw turning. She doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all, so I am having no problem with it. Here's a photo of one of the screws.

The first photo above was taken right after we got home today. Livi's a bit swollen, but otherwise happy, as you can see! Now, if I could just get over this awful cough I have (bronchitis, I think... haven't found time to get to my doctor yet) everything would be great! Thank you, everyone, for your prayers, messages and phone calls! I'm still pretty much voiceless, but I do appreciate all the love and warm thoughts being sent our way!

~ Jeana

Surgery Update

I received a call on Friday from the hospital rescheduling Alivia's surgery again... they've moved it up to Thursday, September 20th. Hopefully she will be fully over her cold by then and everything can proceed as scheduled.

In other news... Livi is living up to the terrible two's! Today she threw a tantrum just because I wouldn't open a door for her. There was nothing terribly exciting on the other side of the door--we were at my office and it just led to another hallway of offices. She pitched a royal fit, though, for about 5 minutes before finally giving up. Hopefully Livi will quickly figure out that Mommy doesn't give in to tantrums and will stop trying to play that card. Also, Kizi, the younger of my two cats, has finally decided to allow Livi to pet her. She's still cautious and quick to get away if Livi pulls or pinches, but they do seem to be getting along quite well most of the time. My other cat, Treasure, is going to be a MUCH harder sell... (and, yes, Kizi is a really BIG cat!)

We have a busy week ahead of us... Monday we start with a new speech therapist. Tuesday is a new cognitive therapist. I also have a doctor's appointment on Tuesday--they found something suspicious on my latest mammogram and want me to come in for a diagnostic one. Probably nothing, but I'm still a bit worried, I must admit. Wednesday is Livi's pre-surgical check-up, followed by the surgery itself on Thursday. If I make it to the end of the week with all my hair still attached to my head it will be a miracle...

~ Jeana

Cruise Report and More!

Wow! The Celebrate Adoption Cruise was an absolute blast! I won $840 on penny slots (PENNY slots!!!!!) that I spent on a gorgeous set of blue diamond ear studs. Livi surprised me by gobbling down cream of escargo soup and other gourmet delicacies. The other families were great--especially Natalia and her daughter Marina and son Roman. Marina and Livi became quite friendly and I hope we'll get to see them again in the future! Livi won't wear her sunglasses often, but when she does...

Livi proved to be a terrific sailor. No seasickness or major problems of any kind. Of course she was ready to go home once the cruise ended. So was I. We did enjoy ourselves immensely, though, and I'm already planning our next cruise adventure. I'm looking at a 7 nighter next year in October that will stop in Belize and Cozumel. I've never been to Belize and love Cozumel, so it looks very promising so far! Anyone want to join us? This is Livi's formal portrait from the cruise.

Other highlights--I mentioned Marina already. She was such a cutie--just a few months older than Livi and only a little bigger, but she played big sister and helped Livi climb the stairs. It was so sweet! The kids all spent time together in Camp Carnival, but we were not, unfortunately, able to do much together outside of that. Everyone just had too many things they wanted to do and it was a busy 6 days.

My mother watched Livi for a few hours while we were in Nassau and decided to get her hair braided. She loved it and looks very cute with her hair beads. I have to take them out in a few days to get her ready for the surgery next week, but they are so cute that I want to leave them in as long as I can. Here's a photo I took of her in our cabin with her braids. She was in a serious mood that night...

Livi and I recieved some very good news today on the health front. We had her 6 month follow-up with the orthopedics specialist and he said that Livi has made some fantastic strides with her legs (no pun intended!) and now no longer needs braces or even shoe inserts! I felt like jumping up and down with joy! Her legs have become much stronger and straighter and she's walking quite a bit now. Here's a photo of her in motion--literally.

At the moment Livi has a slight cold that I guess she caught in Camp Carnival. I'm hoping it will clear up soon and not delay the surgery. That's scheduled for a week from Friday--on September 21. I just want to go ahead and get it over with so we can get on with the healing. Well, enough for now! I'll try to post again in a few days!



~ Jeana

Apologies and Updates

I'm sorry I've gone so long without posting. Things have been extremely hectic here over the past few weeks. In addition to Livi's surgery (more on that in a moment) I've had to deal with one college term ending, another one beginning and a couple major deadlines in my daytime job. Whew... I'm looking forward to being out to sea next week--literally!

Livi's surgery went very well. I was rather nervous when the surgeon told me not to be surprised if Livi had to be put on a ventilator after the surgery and had to stay a few extra nights. He hadn't mentioned any of that before. This first surgery was just for tonsils, adenoids and ear tubes. Well, fortunately, Livi proved to be a real trooper--no ventilator, no additional nights in the hospital, and really minimal reaction to everything that went on. Within about five hours of the surgery she was up pushing her stroller around the PICU and trying to visit the other children. The doctors and nurses were all just amazed at her resilience. I'm just hoping that she will show the same strength when it comes to the second surgery.

Speaking of the second surgery... the date has been moved up. They now have it scheduled for September 21. It's good in one sense--I'm happy to get it over with and we're less likely to be impacted by flu and cold season. On the other hand, my parents will be out of town beginning several days before hand and not returning until several days afterwards, so I'll be missing that support. With this operation it is very likely that she will be on a ventilator for a couple days. I know that she will be in the PICU for a couple days and then in the regular pediatric surgical unit for a couple more days. I get to stay with her the whole time, but it is going to be tough to be there alone. I'm hoping that my friends here will be able to come by to see us and give me that extra support that I'm going to need. It will just depend on everyone's schedules, of course.

Work has been a challenge, too. I'm teaching two courses this term and one is a newly developed one that we had virtually no info on until a couple days before classes started. I't a hybrid course (part in class and part online) and we have some technical issues to deal with, as well. It's been a rough start to the term... My day job hasn't been much better. I've been frantically working on a Website and brochure for one of our college programs trying to get it done by today. I did manage it, but just barely... I was at work until 6:30 last night putting on the final touches. I hate being on such a tight schedule--it really impacts my time with Livi, not to mention making me too tired to be able to do some of the things with her that I want to do.

Hopefully that will all turn around now that classes are entering their second week and that major project is done. And I'm officially on vacation for a week! On Monday we'll be leaving on our cruise to Key West and Nassau, Bahamas. There are five other families in our group who have adopted little ones internationally. I think they are all from Russia, but I'm not sure. I do know that they are all close in age to Alivia--she's the youngest, but most of the others are only 10 to 12 months older. It should be a lot of fun!

I still haven't been able to get any new photos, but I'm going to try this weekend. I'll definitely get some on the cruise, too!

~ Jeana

As the Summer Winds Down

Livi and I had a wonderful time in Amelia Island this past weekend. One of my cousins was able to get a gorgeous condo right on the beach for all of us and we spent the days playing in the ocean and doing a little sightseeing. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera along most of the time, so no new pics... Sorry! I'll try to get some over the next few days as Livi and I are out and about.

Livi has an ear infection--a product of her days playing surfer baby, I think. Her doctor was on vacation, but we got in to see one of the other doctors on his team and she gave us a script for amoxicillin. One of our grocery stores here, Publix, has a deal going on where all your 'cillin type drugs are free. That was nice! We managed to catch the infection before it got bad, so I'm hoping it will clear up before Livi's scheduled surgery on August 21st. Eeek! That's approching way too fast!

Next weekend is my last three day weekend of the summer (the college I work at gives us Fridays off for 13 weeks of the summer each year.) As it's also the last weekend before Livi's surgery I'm planning to get in as much play time as we can. Unfortunately we have to avoid the pool (don't want to aggravate the ear infection), but we can go to the park and stuff like that. I'm just praying the weather cools off a bit. It's been unbearably hot here the last week or so.

Oh--one of the things that's recommended for kids with sensory integration issues is a crash pit. It's a padded "pit" that they can literally crash in. Bouncing, jumping, throwing themselves down, and that kind of thing is actually good therapy for SI kids. Well, I priced crash pits and they typically run about $800 or more. I've found a great substitute, though. It's called a "pillow sac" and Overstock.com has them for $115. It measures 5' x 6' by 8" deep and is filled with shredded foam. Livi loves it and it's a great place for her to get all her jumping, bouncing and crashing out of her system!

That's all for now... I'll try to post again soon with new photos!

~ Jeana

St. Louis Trip (Long Post)

Alivia and I had a fantastic time in St. Louis last weekend. I have to say that it was probably one of the most restful vacations I've ever had. We did a lot--but we did it a little at a time and we had a blast doing it! Kelly, Christy, Cindy and I all got along like we'd known each other for years. Surprisingly, for as young as they are, Alivia, Grace and Katie all got along well, too! They actually played together a bit instead of just playing side by side. Livi would drop things deliberately just to have Katie and Grace pick them up to give them back to her to drop again. It was too cute! They also all three loved playing in the peanut pool at the CHI picnic. I have several great photos from there including this one where Livi is already showing a propensity for partying hard. Grace is on the left playing with the pink and purple items and Katie is bending over in the background.

One of our first activities was a tea party for the girls. I hope we can do this one again every year! They all looked so pretty in their fancy dresses! Livi wore her pink pearls and a pretty crystal necklace, not to mention a little of the frosting from the cookies. The four of us adults dressed up a little, as well... tiaras, feather boas, and lots of jewelry! We didn't go quite as far with it as we should have, though. I think in the future we'll have to try a little harder.

The tea party was quite a feast and included cookies, heart-shaped french toast, bacon, eggs and some delicious coffees and teas. The grand finale was a beautiful (and quite delicious!) cake. The girls all helped blow out the candles. Livi decided she wasn't waiting on anyone else and also took a bite out of the frosting while the others were still blowing... That's my girl!

Each afternoon after the girls took a nap we would visit the pool. All three girls acted like they were part fish. They all loved the slides, loved floating around in the boats, loved "swimming" with Mommy, and just generally loved everything about it! Livi and I had so much fun playing in the water. I wish we had a pool like that here that we could visit every day. I can tell it's going to be a priority when shopping for my next house!

On Sunday morning Kelly and Grace had to return home, but Livi, Katie, Christy, Cindy and I kept the fun going with a visit to Grant's farm. Livi loved the Clydesdales (no surprise there!) We got a couple formal portraits done with one of them, but I left them in St. Louis. I'll have to post it later after Christy and Cindy send them to me. We took a train ride around the farm and then spent a little time feeding the goats.

Ah... the goats... they were aggressive little things and tried to eat my purse, my shirt, Livi's hair, Livi's shirt and shorts, and anything else that came in reach! One even tried to nibble on poor Katie's ear! Livi seems to just be enthralled with any and all animals and giggled when one of them tried nibbling on her fingers. The child has no fear at all!

On Monday we visited the St. Louis zoo. What a treat! It's a beautiful zoo with a number of animals that we don't get to see at our zoo at home. Livi loved the penguins and kept trying to dip her hands into their pools. She also loved the puffins (a relative of the penguins) and ended up bringing a stuffed puffin home with her. In the children's area of the zoo Livi and Katie tried their hands and legs at the spider rope climb. They both did surprisingly well! We also did a couple rides on the carousel and rode the train. The highlight of the day was the sea lion show. All in all a great day!

The other major fun thing for Livi was playing with the dogs. Christy, Cindy and Katie have two dogs--big, beautiful Labs named Butter and Abby. Butter is the younger one and was as eager for Livi's kisses as Livi was for giving them. The two could be found smooching just about any time of the day. Abby is a bit older and has some hip problems. Livi seemed to instinctively know that she had to be more gentle with Abby. Here she is cuddled up with her on the sofa. I have a feeling there's a dog or two in my future...

Here is another shot of the girls in the peanut pool at the CHI picnic on Saturday. They all had so much fun with it! I have to see about making something similar here. Not packing peanuts, though... they turned into crumbs within just a couple hours. Maybe I can find some that don't disintegrate. I've seen similar things done with plastic balls, but the peanuts seemed to be more fun for the girls. Anyone have any suggestions?

I can't begin to thank Christy and Cindy enough for the lovely hospitality they showed us last weekend. I'm SO looking forward to spending time with them again next year for the 16th CHI picnic. I'm also hoping we can all (Kelly and Grace, too!) get together more than just once a year as our girls grow up. I'd like them to grow up knowing each other and becoming fast friends. Who knows... maybe they will all go off to college together or something. Wouldn't that be a really cool thing! Okay--last picture for this post... another peanut pool shot! Hurray!

~ Jeana