3 months with Madelyn

It has only been 3 months since Madelyn came into our lives! Although it seems like we were just in China, at the same time it feels like Maddie has been with us forever. I can't even remember a time without her. Life since arriving home has been a little crazy for us - not only with adjusting to one more child in our home but the many challenges that we have faced as a family; from the death of Keith's dad to my mother's illness and recovery.

There are little things that I am thankful for since Maddie came into this family that I wanted to mention:

- For all of the little kisses that I get. She is quick to offer a smooch when she is eating, pottying, picking up her toys, putting on her shoes and even when she is getting into trouble.

- For the way Maddie calls for me - "MAW". Some days she will say it over and over and over again.

- For her cute pony tail that she wants me to put her hair into each day and the cute bows she likes to wear.

- The excitement on her face when she sees her school and when I see her after school.

- Asking for a table of 5 when we go out to eat (instead of 4)

- The kindness and joy that I see in Christopher and Elizabeth when they are interacting with Maddie.

- The joy that she brings to my entire family. It is quite amazing how 1 little girl from China could unite a family and make us closer than ever before.

There is so much more - more than I can mention. She is definitely the light of all of our lives.

Maddie continues to "love" going to school and is improving her language skills everyday. She has had a couple of issues at school where the teacher has called to talk with me. The first incident Maddie bit another child. The children in her class were lining up and there was alot of pushing and shoving and in that Maddie bit. The second incident, Maddie pinched a little girl as they were both trying to slide down the slide at the same time. In talking with the Director of the Pre-K department she felt that these incidents were linked more to her frustration with her lack of ability to communicate with the other children than with meanness. Maddie understands very well but is not able to verbalize as well as her peers but she is improving. All and all her teachers say that she is doing very well and is extremely bright. I imagine that by the beginning of next school year she will be on target with her language skills.

We have a return appointment to see the Speech Therapist at Texas Children's Hospital in September. I am anxious to see how much she has improved since our last visit and whether or not they will recommend speech therapy.

For those of you interested in how my mom is doing - she is fantastic! The neurologist released her this week and she will not return to see him until next year. She is now able to drive, swim and wet her head (with her scar). It is truly a miraculous recovery! She is working to re-establish her relationship with my older two children and establish a relationship with Maddie - this has been the hardest for my mom, especially with respect to my older children.

This weekend we are doing something we all love to do: Dance to some good cajun music. This will be Maddie's first experience with a live band and dancing. I hope she loves the cajun music. I know she loves the cajun food and will enjoy having dinner with our extended family. I will post some pictures at a later date.

Maddie's first theme park...

We recently took the entire family on a quick trip to celebrate Christopher's 16th birthday. Maddie had the opportunity to test how brave she was. When my kids were little they knew No Fear and rode everything and did everything we would allow them to do - from roller coasters to bungee jumping. I really hoped that Maddie had that same adventurous spirit - well it appears that she does. She rode every roller coaster and ride that she was allowed to. She loved the roller coaster and rode it over and over and over again - I think she rode it at least 15 times. The roller coaster had a built in camera that recorded the riders throughout the entire ride. We were then able to buy the video. It was definitely the best $15 we have spent in a long time. I will try and upload that video. I have included the video of her on the merry go round. Enjoy.

A Few More Pictures to Share....

I just wanted to share some more cute pictures. She has learned to pose for the camera so her pictures have gotten cuter!!! lol

Hope everyone had a great Easter Holiday and spring break!

Texas Children's Visit

Once again we are left amazed and astonished at how Good God really is and how he blessed us with a beautiful and healthy little girl. We had our visit with the Craniofacial Team at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston. We met with Dr. Stal, plastic surgeon. He examined Maddie's lip and palate and was extremely impressed with the quality of surgery that she received in China. He stated that her palate surgery looked great and was functioning properly. Her lip surgery was good, as well, with very little scaring. He stated that with such a good surgical outcome initially, we have the option in a few years (around age 4 or 5) to refine the look of her lip and make it even prettier. Laginappe. So here's the plan from a surgical prospective going forward:

- 4-5 years old - possible lip revision (to reduce the appearance of scarring)

- 8 years old - bone graft (I have to do a little more research on what this surgery entails - I know that it will place a bone where she has a void. I have time so I will research this fully before age 8)

- 13-14 years old - fix her nose.

She also met with a team of Speech Therapists. They performed an evaluation which in short, consisted of Maddie saying several different words found in a book, such as "Bird, Yellow, Purple, Truck, Duck, etc." Maddie threw in a few of her own words and sentences - like "Where is it?" as she hid the book (a game we frequently play with her) and her response of "I don't know". Needless to say, The Speech Therapists were extremely impressed. The Lead Speech Therapist stated that she had NEVER seen, in her career with Texas Children's, a CL/CP child that could talk as well as Maddie does. She was able to hear consonants and vowels in her speech that were appropriate and on target for her age. She re-confirmed that Maddie's palate is functioning properly. She heard no "Red Flag" areas and did not recommend any action for her now. We will follow up with the Speech Therapist in the Summer to re-evaluate. This will give Maddie a chance to continue to develop her speech now that she is in school.

What amazing news!!! We are extremely excited to hear that she is on target with speech (so far) and no surgeries required for some time. Woo Hoo - Praise GOD!

I have included some beautiful pictures from Easter Sunday. What a wonderful day we had with Maddie and our entire family. My sister made her cute outfit and she wore it like a rock star! lol We all took great pleasure in watching Maddie hunt for Easter Eggs. Every time she found one she had the same sweet expression on her face. We got the girls a trampoline for Easter and boy Maddie has sure enjoyed it. Her "Jump, Jump" was a hit. She continues to badger the kids every day - all day long to take her Jump Jump. It's so cute to watch them all out there having fun together!

First Easter Party...

There has been quite a few "Firsts" in our house with Maddie. The first time she sat in the bathtub, the first trip to the park, eating her first crawfish, etc. We all have enjoyed seeing these "Firsts" in her life. Today was her first Easter Party at her school. Although this was not my first Easter Party as a parent - it is the first Easter Party in a very long time. I felt a little out of practice going to a school party but quickly got back into the swing of things. I took great pleasure in dressing her in a cute little outfit with matching bow for her hair. Eggs and Easter basket in hand we were off to party!

When we arrived, the teacher had planned a fantastic party for the kids, with stories, songs, treats and of course, an easter egg hunt. Maddie quickly caught on to how the Easter Egg Hunt works and swoop up her share of eggs. She was so cute finding the eggs hiding in the bushes - her expression was priceless. We had a great time at the party! What a great first!

Easter Sunday will be a family filled day with some yummy crawfish. All of the kids will be helping dye Easter Eggs. The older ones will hide the eggs for another easter egg hunt for Maddie.

I hope and pray that each of you will have a joyous Easter Sunday and with the season, enjoy new beginnings. I know that our family will be enjoying new beginnings with Maddie and my mother. I am so thankful to have both in my life.