The Dentist today

I'm taking YouYou to the dentist this morning for the first of many dental procedures she needs. Their goal for today is to put in 3 temporary fillings. She'll be given nitrous oxide and demerol to help calm her so that she cooperates. Will you pray for her? Her appt. is at 8:30 am CST.

And on a more exciting note...on this day last year we were boarding a plane to GO TO CHINA!!!!! I can't believe it has been a whole year!!! I'll be posting several times over the next 2 weeks to celebrate this occasion.

Thank you all for your prayers and support over this past year, and even today :)

***UPDATED***
Ms. YouYou did GREAT at the dentist. He was able to put in the temporary fillings and they look wonderful. She had chipped her front tooth back in June of last year and since then more and more of that tooth and the one next to it, which also had a cavity, had been crumbling. The dentist was able to "fill" in the two front teeth and you can hardly tell there was ever anything wrong with them. I'm so pleased. And YouYou was so cooperative...definitely the prayers!!!

The Best Ever

So I know I'm late, but I just had to post a few pictures from YouYou's first Christmas. I can honestly say I think it was the best Christmas we have ever had. Not at all because of the number of presents under the tree (b/c there weren't that many), but because of lots of other little things...like hearing YouYou sing "Happy Birthday Jesus" and listening to the boys recite the Christmas story. We sat around the tree Christmas morning and it was so nice to not feel like someone was missing. It was a beautiful day spent with family and celebrating the birth of our Saviour.

Look for several posts in the next few days...there is a one year celebration coming up!!!!

Joy

This time last year my heart was aching. We were so hopeful that we would travel to China before the end of the year but it just wasn't His plan. I tried to put on a happy face, but all I really wanted was to hold my little girl who was still on the other side of the world.

It's different this year. She's here...I can hold her, kiss her, listen to her laugh. It's almost been a year now that she has been a part of our family and now we are getting to celebrate the birth of our Saviour with our daughter. What an amazing gift that was given to us and what a wonderful gift she is to our family.

Merry Christmas to you all!

The Princess is in her own bed...

Little Ms. Princess decided that she was ready to sleep in her own bed for the first time Saturday night after a fun time "Trunk or Treating". She has been talking about it for several weeks and we decided she was finally ready. This was a a big step for her (and for me :) And she has done great!!

I do wish, however, that the whole daylight savings time thing could be explained to her so that she would go back to sleeping in until around 8:00 am. She's up a little earlier now that she's in her own room, it's a little brighter in there which I think also helps her to wake up earlier. So since she's been waking up earlier she has been falling asleep in the car most days while we're on the way to pick up one of her brother's from school. On Tuesday of this week she actually fell asleep on the way to pick up the brother that goes to school for half day...so this was around 11:15 in the morning! I guess this will always be a part of our life, but I actually started to get a little concerned and wondered about why she was falling asleep during the day so much now. Could it be heart related? I kept a close eye on her while she slept and for the rest of that day, but her energy level was completely normal after she woke up from her nap and her breathing was fine. So I eventually just chalked it up to our extra busy weekend and her getting up earlier than normal. I did mention this to my husband though and he assured me that he would have been concerned as well (so it makes me think I'm not just over-reacting :) I wonder if little things like this will always make me think of her heart. Probably so. This is our life...and I'll rejoice in every healthy day we have!

Cardiologist checkup

YouYou and I went to B'ham yesterday for her 6 month post open heart surgery checkup (it's actually been 7 months but that is what happens when mommy forgets to call to get an appointment until the month we are supposed to be seen :)

Dr. Romp was very pleased with how she is growing. She now weighs 24.6 pounds (that was with clothes on though). That's a gain of around 4 pounds since surgery! She also measured 36 inches tall, which means she has grown a little more than 2 inches since we brought her home! Oh yeah...she's getting big :)


YouYou did great with all of the procedures/tests. She had a chest x-ray, an EKG, an Echocardiogram, and they took her blood pressure and pulse ox (which by the way was a perfect score of 100!!) As always, the Echocardiogram took a little while, but YouYou mostly sat still the whole time :) I always get a little anxious during this part of the checkup because Dr. Romp gets this serious look on his face as he tries to interpret what he is seeing on the monitor even though her ventricles are reversed. He said that this echo looks to be the same as the echo that was done prior to the heart cath in June...the pressures are about the same, the ventricles seem to be pumping strongly and he still sees (and hears) some small VSD's. But this is all good news really! We know her heart will never be perfect (at least not here on Earth) but she is really doing well. He also took her off of one of her medicines and he reduced another one. So for now, she will continue to be on 2 medications that she takes twice a day. And...as long as no problems arise we don't have another checkup for 6 months!! Yippee!!!

Here are a few pictures from our day. This first one was taken in the waiting room...



Watching the nurse blow bubbles during the EKG...



Reading a book while we wait to see the doctor...



YouYou and our favorite cardiologist Dr. Romp (well, he's the only cardiologist we've ever had but he's still our favorite :)!



This was taken as we left the Dr.'s office. I told YouYou to stand in front of the light pole and smile for me. She decided it would be better to dance...


She is holding our appointment reminder card and her two stickers...


Now she's getting a little sassy with her hand on her hip...


Hmmm...what is this on my finger?


Okay, now she's through taking pictures and this is what she does when she has had enough. She just refuses to look at the camera...such a little stinker.!

A little girl who loves the beach...

This time last year we were here at this same beach, wondering, waiting, hoping, and praying for our daughter who was on the other side of the world. Now she is here with us! And let me tell you...she loves the beach!

She's chunky...

"She's so tiny"

"She's sooooo little"

I can't tell you how many times people (usually strangers) say these things to us about YouYou. And it's even worse when they follow the comment by asking how old she is...their jaws usually drop when we say she just turned 3 years old.

You know what I have been saying to people the past month or so? Here are my exact words...

"Actually, no. THIS is chunky"

And I say this with a smile on my face and joy in my heart.

I knew YouYou was gaining weight. I could see it in her face, in the little muscles that have appeared on her arms and legs, and in the crease that she has which defines a little bottom that used to not be there :) This is exactly what the Dr.'s want her to be doing. If she is gaining weight and growing it is a good sign that her heart is functioning well. So imagine how excited I was today when it was confirmed that SHE IS GAINING WEIGHT!!! We had a 3 year "well checkup" with her pediatrician and guess how much she weighs????

TWENTY THREE POUNDS AND TWO OUNCES!!!!!!

That means she has gained a little more than FIVE pounds since the beginning of February (which was when she was first seen and weighed by our pediatrician). She has also grown almost an inch taller! WooHoo!!!

So if you are around us much you might just hear us saying to our little one..."Girl you chunky" :)