No More Stitches or Buttons!

We took off the patch this morning. It's so hard for me to visualize what her eye will look like after all the healing. She has been such a good girl. She does exactly what we tell her, when it comes to her eye and touching or not touching it. She will continue to wear the patch when she sleeps--just for added protection. Here are some pics of her this morning.

We got some swing time in this morning...

And here she is showing me all her scooter tricks...she's a tricky-tricky girl!

 FAST!
You still watching me Mama??

Stitches and "Buttons" Come Out

Today we traveled back to the hospital to have Karleigh Mei's stitches and "buttons" removed. She still has a patch over her eye, so we haven't seen it yet. We will take it off tomorrow! She will then wear the patch when she naps or goes to bed--just for a couple of days, to make sure it's protected. I'm so nervous about seeing it! I don't know how much of her eye we will be able to see,  as the eyelid will be pretty tight. I'm just praying that it heals up nicely. She has been such a trooper through this whole thing. What a dear she is! I'll post tomorrow with pics!

I took these pics a couple of days ago--trying to work on my photography class that I'm taking. It's totally kickin' my you-know-what! I'm learning some cool stuff---stuff I'd NEVER have the patience to learn if I didn't have to turn in homework! :o) I thought these were sweet pictures of two of my three girls. :o)

NO MORE PICTURES!!

Yesterday was a pretty day and so we went outside so Karleigh Mei could take her baby for a stroll. I'm taking an online photography class and am TRYING to get my assignment done for this week. So I've been taking lots of pictures of my kids (none of them turning out so great...sigh). Lex had the camera in the beginning and got some sweet shots of our girl strolling around with Mei Mei (her baby). I then took over and after a bit Karleigh Mei was getting frustrated being followed around with the camera. The last two photos of her are of her yelling, "NO MORE PICTURES!". And when I didn't stop...she started to STOMP towards me. Lex and I were laughing so hard it was so cute. That was my last picture I took though, and she was able to walk her baby in peace. :o)

Cutest little bum...

Strolling Mei Mei...
Getting out a rock in her shoe...
NO MORE PICTURES!!
And I MEAN it!!

Congratulations To Blake!!

This is a film my Son-In-Law To Be wrote. He won "Best Writer" for it in ACU's FilmFest. It also won "Best Drama", "Best Technical Director", "Best Director", "Best Actress", AND "Best Film Overall"!! Woo Hoo! So proud of you Blake!!

The "Film Crew" (Blake is on the far right) 

**Don't forget to quiet my music first**

The Hunger from ACU FilmFest on Vimeo.

The Patch Is Off!

We have taken off Karleigh Mei's eye patch!! She wanted to watch us as we pulled it off, so she sat up on our bathroom counter and had a front row seat. :o) We pulled it off and she stared and stared at it. Something I have not mentioned about it, is that her eye has been stitched shut. Our eyelid is the best bandaid for our eye! Imagine that!? :o) The Lord did such a good work when He created us! We will return to the hospital on Thursday the 26th and have the stitches and "buttons" taken out. We told her that when she gets those taken out, she'll have two pretty eyes again! She was confused, but she is trusting us. She is such a dear little girl. Have I mentioned how much I love her!!! :o)

She is doing sooooooo fabulous! She took a good nap yesterday when we got home and woke up in a happy mood. She ALWAYS wakes up in a happy mood! She is so cute when she falls asleep in the car. When she wakes up from her little car cat-naps she always has the sweetest little smile on her sleepy face.

Okay...so here is the picture of our darling Karleigh Mei with the patch off!

Pictures of Patched Eye

Here's my pretty, pretty girl with her patch on her eye. She's being SOOO good about not trying to take off the patch! Daddy took Karleigh Mei on a walk too! She loves relaxing in her stroller with her water, popcorn, and a lollipop. :o)

Home From Surgery!

Karleigh Mei had her surgery this morning on her eye and she did really well. It was really hard to see her go back with the doctors, but she was happy and feeling good. She likes adventures. :o) She did really well when she came off of her anesthetic and had her first popsicle. Yummy! She ate the whole thing! She has a patch on her eye right now, so we have not seen the eye yet. The patch will come off tomorrow, unless she rips it off sometime today.

I took this picture of her yesterday as we were leaving the hospital after our pre-op visit.

This picture was taken this morning before her surgery. Ready for an adventure. :o(

I also took this picture this morning of her eye. It gives a pretty good look at what WAS going on with her eyelid. The part of her eyelid that did not form was actually fused to her eye. The surgery was to separate that and to bring it all the way over to make a complete one. She does have some scar tissue on her cornea that the doctor was not able to get off...it went too deeply into the cornea. He thinks that she must have had an infection on her eye when she was a baby. :o( She is down for a nap right now, but as soon as I am able, I will update with pictures of my happy, eye-patched, darling girl. Thank you for all the prayers. They were truly felt!!

Surgery On Friday and Three Months HOME!!!

Today marks three months for Karleigh Mei to be HOME with us!! We love her so much and can't imagine life without her!

I also want to ask for prayer from all the prayer warriors out there! Karleigh Mei will be having her eyelid surgery on Friday. This surgery will be to give her a complete upper eyelid and to take off the "skin" that is covering her eye. Please pray for skilled surgeon hands, quick healing for our girl, and peace for us!! I'm ready to get this behind us. Thank you in advance for all the prayers. I'll post as quickly as I can to let you know how the surgery went. 

Thank you again!!

How I Love This Girl!!

Oh my goodness how I love this girl!  I become so weepy when talking or thinking about how much I love her!!! I knew I would love her before we adopted  her, but I didn't know the DEPTH of my love for her! As a mother of four other children I can say that without a shed of doubt, I love this girl as equally as the others. If there is anyone who is afraid to adopt because of this alone...have no fear in the love you will have!! Your love will overflow...and I mean OVERFLOW!! What an amazing thing adoption is!! What an amazing thing!!

Happy 14th Birthday Gannon!!

Today is my 3rd child and oldest son's 14th birthday! In the past year, Gannon has been changing and growing before my very eyes! He is growing to be such a wonderful young man of God. I am so very proud of him! 

Gannon,

I love you so very much and couldn't be more proud of you.  Thank you for being the kind-hearted young man that you are. You are a joy and a delight! I look forward to watching you continue to grow in the Lord! Keep your eyes on Him!

Happy Birthday!!!

Love, 

Mama :o)

We all had a fun day celebrating Gannon!! Gannon's choice for dinner today was The Olive*Garden. Nobody complained! And while we were there, Karleigh Mei had a balloon hat made for her. She's been loving it and I'm sure she will be sad when the air goes out. :o(

Birthday boy Gannon with little sister, "Peanut". :o)

Singing ABC's

So Lexie has shown me how to upload videos! Karleigh Mei and I took this earlier today. She loves to sing her ABC's! We were watching ourselves as we took this video on our computer, so she became a little bit distracted at the end. :o) I also had to trick her into saying "goodbye" at the end...and so I say, "see you in a minute"...which is actually the truth 'cause we were going to watch the video of us!

Hope you enjoy our darling girl's sweet little voice!!

***Be sure to quiet my music on the side before you begin the video***

Big Brother Love...

Karleigh Mei has blessed us all! But Karleigh Mei is also equally blessed by a whole family who loves her so very much. Gannon is my oldest son and Karleigh Mei's oldest brother. Gannon is such a champ and truly enjoys hanging out with his little sister. I found them this morning in Karleigh Mei's room with this whole picnic spread. This just warmed my mother's heart!!

This next picture is also so, so, sweet! Karleigh Mei and Gannon were snuggling on the seat on the front porch. 

And these next two pictures were taken soon after we had gotten home from China. Gannon is so patient with her and lets her sit with him while he's on the computer. She was a sleepy girl. :o)

Here's a close up of our darling sleeping beauty.