Audra's 1st day at the ocean

  I wasn't sure how much Audra would enjoy the beach and ocean...

I'll let the pictures tell the story of her pure joy in the sand and water:

We made it

Lots of bridge traffic and more potty stops than we expected resulted in the trip taking 10 hours...  

...but we made it!

Sisters at the beach!!!

Cousins on the beach

(Maura and Hanah)

We are here with my sister's family, my brother's family and Sean's brother's family.

8 adults and 12 kids.

It's gonna be a crazy fun week :)

Audra's 1st real vacation

We are leaving for our first vacation since bringing Audra home 16 months ago.

We have had a few long weekend getaways (National Harbor, Eagle Rock, and Great Wolf Lodge) but this will be the "real deal"...a full week at the beach in Outer Banks, NC.

We have been going to Outer Banks every summer since Riley was born (he will turn 13 while we are at the beach this week!).  But we missed last summer due to our big trip to China in April and Audra's uncertain health status....and we really, really missed it!

So, it's 5:30am and we are just about ready to hit the road...the car is packed with tons of beach gear and 4 super excited kiddos...

In 8 hours we will be standing in the sand, listening to the waves roll in just outside of our beach front house!!

3#

August has been a busy month for Audra so far with lots of follow up doctor appointments.

The most exciting of which was her GI appointment...

From April 2013 (when we brought her home) until June 2014 (when she got her feeding tube) she gained a mere 3 pounds, taking her from 22lbs to 25lbs.  Despite her voracious appetite and consuming enough calories to satisfy a grown man...she just didn't gain the weight she needed to.

In the seven weeks that she had been receiving supplemental overnight feedings of the specialized formula that is easier for her GI system to absorb...she has gained THREE pounds!!!

In only seven weeks she had gained the same amount of weight that it took her 14 months to gain!

At 28lbs she is still a feather weight...but 3# in 7 weeks is truly amazing.

For perspective here are my soon-to-be 7 year old's measurements:
28lb which is the 50th percentile for 2 year old
38in which is the 50th percentile for a 3 year old
(both are very far below the 3rd% for her actual age)

Audra has been taking pancreatic enzymes before every meal since early June and we have seen a dramatic improvement...she has had zero episodes of diarrhea!  This leads the doctor to believe that Audra has pancreatic insufficiency which resulted in her malabsorption...which is most likely the cause of her chronic malnutrition.  We will investigate this a little further with an ultrasound of her pancreas.

General Surgery (g-tube surgery follow up)
~ everything looks good with her G-tube and we are now able to change the tube ourselves at home (either for a routine change or if it accidentally becomes dislodged)

ENT (tympanoplasty surgery follow up)
~ she still has packing in her left ear from the surgery, so we will do more ear drops and go back for another follow up in 4 weeks

Audiology (hearing aid check)
~ could not test the hearing in Audra's left ear because of the packing, but she had her right ear tested and this was the first time the audiologist felt like she got a reliable behavioral hearing test on Audra
~ Audra was very consistent with moderate hearing loss in her right ear
~ the audiologist and I are very anxious to test her left ear and see if there is improvement after the surgery.  The left ear has previously tested in the moderate-severe hearing loss range.

International Adoption Clinic
~ there was the usual review of Audra's attachment and emotional well-being, followed by the nitty-gritty review of all her medical concerns and the treatment plan/follow up required with each specialist.  Each specialist tends to function in a silo, and so the Adoption clinic has been helpful in coordinating/overseeing Audra's medical care.
~ the truth is, though...we are no longer dealing with attachment or adoption related concerns, and her medical issues are not specifically orphanage or China related.  Her still somewhat mysterious medical and developmental concerns are just that...medical and developmental...regardless of her history of international adoption.
~ So, Audra has "graduated" from the adoption clinic.  We were gifted with a CHOP care binder in an effort to help us organize ourselves for the road ahead.

We are still waiting on a few appointments for Audra...
~ Neurology in September
~ Developmental Pediatrician in October
~ Genetic testing:  pending insurance approval, but if it is denied by the insurance company there is currently a research study at CHOP that Audra is eligible to participate in which will include the same genetic testing

Eagle Rock

The annual Kelly Family Reunion (Sean's side of the family) was last weekend. It has been held the last Saturday in July for 41 years!  The location has changed throughout the years, but the past 5 or 6 years it has been held at Eagle Rock Resort (a four seasons resort in the Pocono Mountains, PA).  The past three years we have been making a long weekend of it and loving it!

The house we rented this year had a pool table, ping pong table, air hockey table that made for many "competitive" tournaments.  And a hot tub that we made a "warm" tub.  It was heaven for the kids :)

The girls loved the lake/beach this year!  And the weather was perfect. 

Audra was so different this year...

She LOVED the sand and water!

The boys enjoyed the paddle boats,

followed by a cook out on the beach.

We went to Knoebels on Friday night, which was bargain night. From 6-10pm you can ride almost everything (except the big roller coasters) for only $10, and the little ones are just $7.50. 

It was crowded, but parking is free and the lines were pretty short.

And at the reunion (the main feature of the weekend)...

Maura "beat" her Great Uncle Pat at ping pong

and

Audra "taught" her Great-great Aunt Grace all about her Littlest Pet Shop toys.

take me out to the ball game

For Father's Day we gave my dad tickets for the whole family to go to a local minor league baseball game. My dad enjoys the Reading Phillies, but he enjoys being surrounded by his family at the ballpark even more.

Today was game day.  And it was hot!!

The kids got free neon t-shirts on the way into the ballpark...and compliments of Stroehmann bakery, the adults got a free loaf of bread on the way out.  Interesting, but with the way we go through bread in our house I'll take it :)

Before the game started the kids had fun at the Kidz Zone.  Aidan and Maura both won souvenirs at the ring toss game.  Maura had a steady swing at the putt-putt game and won countless coupons for free rounds of mini golf at some random place in the middle of who-knows-where?!  Aidan threw a mean pitch at the speed pitch game...but he never guessed his speed correctly, so no souvenir for him.  Maura tried the speed pitch too, but her little arm couldn't throw the ball hard enough for the sensor.  She's determined tough...she has to try just about everything Aidan does.
They both were sweaty monsters before the game even started!

Meanwhile, Riley enjoyed his iPad in the shade,
and Audra enjoyed the concessions galore!

We had front row seats on the first baseline.  Perfect for visits from the mascot...unless you're like Audra...terrified of anything in a costume! (we really need to work on this with our trip to Disney World fast approaching)

Blog Book

So, it is really August 15th....

And it has been a month since I have been able to update this blog due to a nasty virus that had my laptop out of commission.

Now it's time for lots of back-blogging,
Cause the fun never stops around here...even when the computer isn't feeling so well!

Last Christmas my mom gave me a gift certificate for Blog2Print...to have my blog printed into a book.  I finally got around to customizing my book online and placed my order.  The hard cover has Audra's referral picture...my beautiful girl.  The book is bound with 130 pages that tells the entire story of our adoption journey...from paper chase to being matched with Audra, and includes our amazing trip to China...where we finally met and held in our arms the little girl we fell in love with through pictures!

This book is priceless to me, but more so for Audra.  It is a tangible piece of her life story (similar to the baby books, scrapbooks and journals I have for my other kids).  I hope to make another blog book for her with all the posts during her first year home.

Thank you Mom!!