Finding the other end of our Red Thread

Friday, February 14, 2014

A day of Many Celebrations

Today was a day with many reasons to celebrate! AND my brother and his family were here from North Carolina to join in on all the celebrating.

Audra's 1st Valentine's Day:
Happy Valentine's Day to my little sweetheart! Last year on Valentine's day we were excited about our recent I-800 approval, knowing that we were just a few short steps away from finally going to get our girl. This year, as we hold her in our arms, it is STILL amazing to think about all that it took for us to get to her, and all that has happened since she joined our family. She is a sweet, sweet girl with a smile so bright and a laugh so contagious...she lights up our world!

The cousins all made Valentine crafts together...

Lantern Festival:
Lantern Festival is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. The 15th day is the first full moon of that lunar year. According to East Asian tradition at the beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung. Lantern Festival is the official end of the Chinese New Year celebrations.

To celebrate Lantern Festival, families often dress in white, and lanterns are hung in honor of the moon to shine the way to a happy future. Children go out at night carrying paper lanterns and solve riddles on lanterns. The lanterns can symbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones. The lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune.

The delicacy of choice for the Lantern Festival is Chinese rice balls, little white moon-like treats. It is believed that the round shape of the rice balls symbolize family togetherness, and that eating them will bring the family happiness and good luck in the new year. I was planning to make these treats today, but got a little side tracked with the day's events. Read a bit further and you'll see why!

We did manage to squeeze in time to decorate lanterns:

January birthdays:
With my brother and his family here to visit this week, we celebrated Maura and Aunt C's January birthdays a bit late. Maura was a little confused at first...was she turning 7 already?! But she was happy to receive presents from grandma and grandpa, Uncle Steve and Aunt Brownie.

AND...

Steve's remission:
13 months ago my brother received the devastating news that he had lymphoma. He endured chemo and radiation that finally finished in July. Two weeks ago he received the amazing news that he is in remission....something to be celebrated!!!

Uncle Steve, Maura and Aunt C

Tatum's arrival:
Our entire family gathered at our house tonight to celebrate these many events. But we were also anticipating another very special event...the arrival of our newest family member, Tatum. My sister went into the hospital early this morning to be induced (she is more than a few days overdue!) Everyone wrote their predictions for Tatum's arrival on a poster:

Some people were generous...predicting a petite 6 pound baby with only 5 hours of labor.
Other were not so generous...predicting an 11 pounder with 15 hours of labor. Ugh!!

Time passed slowly for those of us waiting for news....
We enjoyed a dinner of tater tot casserole in honor of her arrival (she already has the nickname "tater tot")...

Finally...we all got a text at the same time...

Tatum Aline

arrived at 7:07pm

6lbs 7oz

18 inches

and

BEAUTIFUL!

What a wonderful day, full of family and celebration, for many reasons...

that ended with the sweetest celebration of all!

Welcome Tatum!

Thursday, February 13, 2014

"snow-way"

One of the things Audra says most frequently is "no way".

And, because she is NOT a fan of snow...

when she wakes up in the morning and sees a fresh coat of snow (which has been happening 2-3 times a week around here), she says something that sounds like "snow way"!

In other words, she wants no part of the snow.

Today was another morning of "snow way". In fact...about 15 inches of "snow way". And overnight tonight another 3-6 inches is expected.

SNOW WAY!!!

Sure....

it's beautiful...

and fun for the kids...

maybe even a little fun for Audra...

But enough is enough already!

SNOW WAY!!!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Diagnostic dilemma

A week ago, on Saturday morning I received a phone call from one of the doctors of the International Adoption Clinic at CHOP. Audra had been there for an appointment on the 23rd and the doctor wanted to follow up regarding a few concerns.

The first concern, of course, is her growth...or lack there of. She is growing (she has gained about 3 pounds since coming home), but they would have expected to see her grow much more in the 9 months that she has been home. "Catch-up" growth as it is called. We know that she was malnourished when we brought her home, her bloodwork showed this for the first few months of her being home. But now, her bloodwork is improving, we know she takes in more than enough calories, and yet, no catch-up growth. She continues to have bouts of diarrhea which is more than likely part of the problem. But despite the very extensive testing that has been done so far...the cause remains elusive. The plan is another endoscopy/colonoscopy on February 26th. We are hoping that it leads to some answers. Because the possibility of tube feedings has already been mentioned.

Another concern is her developmental delay. Delays are expected in children who spend their early years in an orphanage. But usually, once home, children catch up nicely. The team is concerned that Audra is not having any catch-up gains. In fact, they think she has had "little absolute gain since her last evaluation" in July. Of course, my mama heart tried to justify it...

*she's been hospitalized 4 times
*she's been sick frequently
*she's had doctor visits and tests/procedures constantly
*and we have learned that she has significant hearing loss

Surely these things must be contributing factors!

Despite all of this, the doctor feels that further diagnostic evaluation is warranted due to her medical complexity. Audra has been referred to see Genetics, Metabolism and a Developmental Pediatrician.

More trips to CHOP. More doctor "friends". More testing.

Just want Audra doesn't want!

I am praying that one of these doctors can solve the puzzle of Audra.
And that all this medical "stuff" we are putting Audra through will be of benefit to her.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

10 months

Today is 10 months of having Audra with us...

1-0!

double digits!

In two short months it will be one full year since the first day we laid eyes and arms on her.

Where has the time gone? It's gone by so crazy fast!

Someone stop the clock...slow this world down!
I want to savor every second of the blessing that she is.

CNY at preschool (updated with pics!)

Finally, after many delays to due school being closed for the recent snow and ice storms...

Audra celebrated Chinese New Year with her friends and teachers at preschool on Friday. Her teacher put a lot of effort into planning the day and it turned out great!

The activities included:
~reading a story about the traditions of Chinese New Year
~sweeping and cleaning the classroom (to get rid of bad luck)
~making a traditional Chinese hat
~writing Chinese characters
~counting out pennies to put in red envelopes
~making paper lanterns and parading around the building
~eating Chinese food at snack time

I love this preschool and I LOVE her teacher, Miss Anne. What a honor it was for them to go out of their way to plan a special day to celebrate Audra's culture.

I am working on some pictures of the day...so stay tuned and check back!

2/10/14...Update with pictures:

Sunday, February 2, 2014

CNY celebrations

Gong Hey Fat Choi

Our 1st Chinese New Year was fabulous!

And we are so thankful for all of our family and friends who took time out of their own busy lives to come celebrate with us, and honor Audra and Charlotte's culture.

Saturday evening we had a houseful of love and laughter.

We feasted on:

dumplings

lo mein

sweet and sour chicken

General Tso chicken

fried rice

and oranges in many varieties

We drank tea and indulged in chocolate covered fortune cookies & Chinese donuts!

Delicious!!!

All the little girls wore Qi Pao's,

danced around with dragon wands,

and were gifted with red envelopes

(filled with chocolate money instead of paper money!)

Even the little ones gave chopsticks a try,

but then they reverted to using their hands!

Uncle Mike obviously did his research before arriving...

he came bearing a red envelope with $5 for Audra,

and she carried it around ALL night long!

Today we went to the CNY Gala put on by Charlotte's Chinese school. She attends Chinese school every Sunday. The entire show was spoken in Mandarin and the program was printed in Chinese. And we were just about the only non-Chinese people in the entire auditorium.
It was two hours of insight into the culture shock it must have been for Charlotte and Audra when they joined our families.