Hope was scheduled for her second eye surgery today as the doctor wanted to go in to remove more scar tissue from the retina. Kim left for doctor’s office in downtown L.A. at about 4:30am and at around 8:30am she called me (Todd) with good news!
The doctor put Hope under anesthesia and examined her eye to discover that it has no remaining scar tissue as he thought it would, and that it actually has healed to a degree that he has never seen anything like or even thought was possible! He said that the retina in her right eye has fully reattached and the eye looks completely normal and he thinks that she can now be fitted for a special contact lens or maybe glasses and then be able to see with fully usable vision out of that eye! Kim said that she then reminded him that she had told him we’d be his first miracle back in July! (To which she said he gave a slight chuckle of acknowledgment)
As far as the other eye, the retina is still completely detached and torn and and the eyeball is noticeably smaller than the other, Hope will probably be fitted with a prosthetic eye for it sometime soon. But we are very excited about the report for the other eye and the next step is to schedule an appointment with a specialist pediatric optometrist who will guide us on getting Hope her corrective lens!
Well Kim may have more detail/corrections to add to the post later, but I couldn’t wait any longer!
We have friends in Kansas City who are in the process of adopting a sweet little boy with Downs Syndrome from Eastern Europe. They are hosting an online art sale from today through Saturday to help raise the money needed to complete the adoption. Please take a look at their site… They are amazing people and have so much love to give to this little boy. They just need the funds to make it happen!
Hope continues to amaze us. Just when it seemed like she wasn’t progressing at all in her speech, she has suddenly been starting to talk! Over the last week or so she began to sing the tune of ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’ the whole way through using the “Ra” sound. Then yesterday she said “Pat-ty-Cake”. Just a few minutes ago Jonathan was changing her outfit for me and pointed to her belly button and said, “belly button!” and she immediately started repeating him. She has said it at least 10 times so far and thinks it’s so funny. I think she is enjoying all the cheering and clapping and attention she is getting!
Here is some audio from this morning of Hope and Abigail singing:
On another note, we are off to the dr. today to get a kidney ultrasound. With the melamine scare from China with baby formula, it is advised that any child born 2005 and later gets an ultrasound to check for kidney stones. We pray she doesn’t have any and will keep you updated regarding what they hopefully do not find!
Next week she goes in for another eye surgery to remove more scar tissue from her retina, and hopefully restore a little more vision ability. The dr. wasn’t too excited about a huge improvement the last time we saw him, but maybe this time! Updates to follow!
Things have been so busy these days! Hope is doing really well. Two weeks ago I went to visit a friend in Connecticut and Todd happily watched the kids for four whole days! He did an amazing job, and I was able to get some much needed rest and relaxation and girl time! Todd got some great bonding time in with Hope too while I was gone. He was an on the go dad, and took them all to school, to the park, swimming, the mall, to Abigail’s American Girl club meeting, to the beach, out to eat, and even to Disneyland! Way to go Daddy!
We had our first big meeting with Hope’s preschool recently where they gave us an update and also told us the various goals they have set for her to meet this year. They were really impressed with the way that she has developed an understanding of English so quickly, and also with her desire to please. She is very motivated to learn, and they all continued to remark at how smart she is. That’s my girl!
She just said her first sentence the other day. When she was playing ball with Daddy she said, “kick it.” and kicked the ball. It’s so cute to hear her little voice forming words. She has a sweet little breathy kind of voice. She has also been becoming much much more relaxed these days. Many of the aggressive behaviors have completely stopped, and she is generally a happy girl it seems. She loves to giggle, and will often giggle out of the blue for no apparent reason. I always wonder what she is thinking about!!! She also loves to be swung up in the air like a flying trapeze. She is pretty daring, and isn’t afraid when she is in motion. Todd is going to post a video showcasing some of Hope’s acrobatic abilities soon so stay tuned! She loves spinning around, going on swings, doing somersaults, flips, just about anything that involves moving. She truly is a treasure!
Well it’s past midnight, so I’d better get to bed! I will try to write more frequently!
Here are some cute snaps of Hope playing with one of her favorite toys the other night. She repeatedly shakes it to make the colors flash, then puts it right in front of the one eye that seems to get some perception. Then she presses some buttons that make little clicking sounds that she likes. We darkened the room and that seemed to make it even more enhanced for her. Shake shake shake… Click click click… giggle giggle…
“…having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so you can know and understand the hope to which He has called you, and how rich His glorious inheritance is…” (Paul of Tarsus)
My heart was swelling with emotion this morning after reading the latest post from the family who just adopted the little girl with heart issues from China. If you haven’t been following their story, they went to China to pick up their daughter and upon arrival learned she was in the hospital fighting for her life. They didn’t know if she would live but they prayed and made it out of China. Now they are in the hospital and she is getting surgery this morning. In the meantime they have been trying to bond as a family in the midst of nurses, wires, monitors, and a hospital bed. The kind of endurance this mom has shown has rocked me. It’s a display of the love that God has for us. Even when we are unable to return it, He is right there loving us through our deepest challenges. You can follow their story here, but get your tissues out first:
Abigail and Hannah were in their room with Hope a couple days ago and decided they were going to make a movie, so they began dressing Hope in a costume to prepare her for the starring role. At first it was just a jacket on top of her regular clothes, then they added another jacket… Then they put a skirt on over that… then finally they added another jacket, and put a bonnet on her head… When they came out to show us, and we saw how excited Hope was, the movie production got put on hold, and Abigail took these cute pictures for us! We think Hope might have enjoyed it because the Chinese like to over-bundle their kids, so maybe it was familiar to her, and/or it reminded her of getting bundled up for a cold winter outing in China… Whatever the reason, she loved it and waddled around happily in this outfit for at least an hour…
Our friends the Bohlenders from Kansas City have a huge heart for adoption. So when they heard that twin girls were just born and were about to be placed in state care they jumped on it and are now in Florida adopting the girls! You can follow their story here: www.rbohlender.blogspot.com
We had a great time yesterday traveling to Riley’s Farm in Yucaipa. It was such a beautiful place and Hope had her first experience picking apples, eating freshly made applesauce, and enjoying farm life. If you haven’t been to Riley’s farm and live in SoCal then we highly recommend it! Everyone who works there dresses in colonial type clothes, and they have a great medley of activities for the little ones. From an apple cider press, to making candles, there is plenty to do! www.rileysfarm.com
Hope had fun, but sure didn’t like the flies buzzing around her head non-stop! But she did love running around in the barn with her brother and sisters! We are having so much fun with her and the kids are teaching her the cutest little things every day. Enjoy the pictures!
This is the little sweetie our friends the Clifton’s are trying to adopt. She is Hope’s best friend from Bethel and is now three years old. Please pray for this family as they are trying desperately to request her file from China. Usually with adoptions it works the other way around where the paperwork is done by the family first, and then China refers a child. In this case the Clifton’s found out about her last summer and weren’t able to get her off their hearts and have been trying to adopt her ever since!
There are some red-tape type hurdles so please pray for favor with all government officials. They have invested a huge amount of time and money in the process and feel she is destined to be their daughter. So we pray on!
Hope has been having such a good time at preschool. She has the sweetest teachers, Ms. Jenny and Ms. Kim, who go out of their way to make her feel very special and comfortable. The past few times, when I pick her up, she gets mad at me because she is having so much fun! Tonight was back to school night, and Todd got to meet her teachers and see the school. They had a magician for the kids, and Jonathan, Abby, and Hannah really had a great time too.
We have learned through our China chat group that there is a family right now that upon arriving in China to pick up their daughter learned that she is in the hospital fighting for her life. Please visit their blog and pray for them as you are able. I can’t imagine what they are going through and they really need our prayer support right now.
I (Todd) am taking a closer look through the video footage from our trip to China since I’ve never really done so, and among other things I’ve found four more videos from the couple precious hours we spent at Bethel Foster Home on Hope’s Gotcha Day on May 2nd… They are a bit of a rough watch at times as our videographer skills need improvement, but I know there are some of you who will still appreciate being able to visit Bethel this way and see more footage of the precious little ones who live there…
Here and here are the other videos from Hope’s Gotcha Day, in case you missed them…
