children's museum

the year continues to drag on - life in kindergarten....this weekend we attended an AGCI get together at the children's museum. Reese enjoyed herself and found some other kids from China to chum up with.

No Teeth!!

January 21, 2010

No more bandages and dressings!! Reese can use her frankensteins next week!!

2nd stage of surgery

January 4, Reese had her next surgery for her bone anchored hearing aids. The surgery took about 2 1/2 hours but she did well again. She was quite annoyed with the bandages this time but we managed to keep them on for 48 hours. After 3 days she was more than ready to go back to school. She had her dressing changed a week later and in the next few weeks she will be able to use the "frankensteins" for her aids - no more headband!!

Christmas 2009

Reese, as always, enjoyed Christmas this year. She had another surgery, her 2nd for her bone anchored bone conduction hearing aid, on January 4. It wasn't as invasive as the last one but she seemed more painful. But the following day she was just fine. The doctor said she can go back to school in a week but I think that mama will lose her mind before then. Maybe after 3 days....

post surgery

Reese had me take pictures of her stitches - before and after - since she couldn't see them herself. She is now back to her normal naughty self with the next surgery scheduled for December 17.

surgery

On August 20, Reese had surgery to place bone anchored hearing aids. The doctor was originally going to do the surgery in one stage but changed his mind and decided to be conservative and do it in two. Titanium screws were placed behind both ears, into her skull and the skin was pulled back over the screws. After 4 months, the skin will be pulled back again and a sort of snap will be put on the screws so that she can attach her hearing aids to them and will no longer need a headband. The surgery lasted about 2 1/2 hours and she was not a happy camper coming out of the anesthesia. They had originally said that she should not have much pain, but apparantly it was more complex than the doctor expected due to her malformations. He actually had to drill 2 holes in her left side because the first screw popped right thru the skull, it was in a place that was not dense enough. The first hole should heal up though. So, yesterday was not a good day for Reese and she had more pain than we had expected. Today is better as long as we stay on top of the pain meds.
When this process is all done, she should have improved hearing which is so important at her age. She is learning so much at school and this should help with her speech and pronunciation.

May 23, 2009

Just thought I would throw in an entry with Reese and Ellie playing in the sprinkler - too funny !

May 7, 2009

Well, Reese is now 5! and she is so...proud of it. although she was convinced that her ears would open up when she was 5 - didn't happen. Poor baby - we just tell her that God made her ears very special and we like them that way. She has finally hit the 50th percentile in height - GO Reese! She also lost her 1st tooth a few weeks before her birthday. Why do they grow up so fast? She told me today that at school they had a fire alarm and a tomato drill. I never go a day without a little giggle courtesy of Reese.

December 31, 2008

Reese had a good Christmas this year. She has been very "Americanized". She told us exactly what she wanted and all about Santa coming. As she opened her presents she kept saying, "mommy, I am very happy!" Reese has only been with us a year and a half but it feels like forever.

November 26, 2008

Reese came home from school last Thursday with a fever of 103 and coughing up a storm. I called the doctor and she said that it was a virus that is going around. Well, after a weekend of fever and coughing until she threw up, Jeff took her in to the doctor and lo and behold, she had pneumonia!! She has been on antibiotics for 3 days now and has got her energy back. I imagine she will have no problem eating her Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

November 13, 2008

Reese is still loving school. She finally got her headband so that she can wear two hearing aids. The grin that spread across her face when she realized that she could hear better was priceless! She is still talking non stop and daily talks about "baby africa". What will she do when she is actually here?

August 22, 2008

Reese just loves the beach! We spent the day at Grand Haven yesterday and the girls had a riot. I think she would spend every day there if we let her.

August 22, 2008

July 21, 2008

Last week Poppy decided to teach Reese how to swim. We didn't know how she would do with the chaos of a real swim class with the noise. So her lesson started with a dive with no life vest and off she went. No more life vest for her!! The girl has no fear!!!

July 6, 2008

Reese had a great 4th with swimming, parade, carnival and fireworks. She kept holding her ears saying it was too loud - what good did that do? We just turned off her hearing aid instead.

GOTCHA DAY X ONE YEAR!!

It has officially been one year since we brought Reese into our family. She has grown physically and in maturity. It's hard to believe she is the same little girl we brought home from China. But she has not stopped talking or eating since she got here! We were going to celebrate gotcha day by going out for Chinese dinner but Reese got to celebrate by getting her tonsils and adenoids out! Lucky kid. We figured we would have a few days of silence - no such luck. She was talking an hour and a half after surgery. The next day she was running around and yelling. So much for the 2 week recovery time.
We have been deeply blessed by this little girl and she makes us laugh daily. The Lord gave her a strong personality that will carry her through life. God is good!!

Tarzan Soundtrack - You'll be in my heart by Phil Collins

We're one month from our gotcha day anniversary...how time has flown and how Reese has grown. This song has always reminded us of Reese. She has really soared...

REESE IS 4!!!!! I can't believe my baby is growing up before my eyes. She is definitely not the same little girl we brought home 10 months ago! We had a fun little party with her cousins, aunts and uncles, and Ama and Poppy. She celebrated with a birthday cookie. She also had a party at school the day before with a "birthday melon". She's not a cake fan. She graduated to the 4-5 year old class at church too. Too much for me to take in! Only 5 weeks left in the school year and then summer school for Reese and camp and softball for Kendall. Just when you think you can relax....

Easter has come and gone and spring is finally starting to arrive. The daffodils are popping up and the girls are able to play outside now and then. Reese has received her Baja hearing aids and is really liking it. She can do so much more with the Baja without it falling off like her other one did. She is wearing it on a sort of headband until she has her titanium screws placed. She yells "don't toucha my hearing aid!" if anyone tries to adjust it. The ENT looked at her CT scan and noted that she has huge hollow spaces behind her ear. If he were to try to open the ear canal she would have a gaping hole inside her head. So all the more reason for us to just do the Baja and not worry about the cosmetic part of her ears. She is a fiesty little boogger - she will deal well with anyone that decides to "comment" on her ears. The office is in the process of setting up her surgery and getting the ok from the insurances. They are able to do the two - tonsils and Baja screws - together. The surgery will last about 3.5 hours. Hopefully it is before summer so that it doesn't interfere with her love of swimming!
Enjoy the Easter pictures!