We have now been home almost two weeks. It will be two weeks at 4 am Monday morning, to be literal, but the time has really made a difference for all of us!
While I returned ill, and have pretty much stayed that way with a newly acquired virus from having been in a doctor's office last week, the kids have all really worked their roles out so smoothly! And so much more quickly than I would have ever dreamed possible! I have just tried to keep my head above water, enery wise with continuing to still be sick and needing to go back to work and really did not expect much else to change for the better, just that we would get through these first few weeks until Christmas break and then maybe see some improvements. Andy was still having huge issues with Aubri 6 months after coming home and I really was prepared for a rough road for several months. I had been so worried about how Andy would handle being the big brother and not longer the "baby". I had worried that Aubri would also collapse with exhaustion, since she was such a help on the trip and went through all the "no sleep" days and nights that I had. I worried that she would be harder on Andy and prefer her sister....
I am really having to come to terms that my worrying is either a total waste of time or that if I really worry about it, it will not happen and the totally unexpected is what will happen and that worrying is the best preventative measure... I can't decided which it is though...
Andy has really stepped up to the plate of being a big brother. He is very gentle and caring for his sister and very willing to share with her. He enjoys helping her and seems to feel important in his new role. He has been clingy on occasion and wanted extra assurance that I love him, but it has lessened over the two weeks and he is not always wanting to hold my hand! I didn't mind it a bit, because I had really missed that little hand in mine and his sweet cuddles!
Aubri went back to school and is handling her new role just wonderfully. She is still a bit tired and will still fall asleep quickly when in a moving vehicle and bedtime is not a problem at all, but she is not grouchy or irritable with me or her siblings, beyond the usual complaints that I made her get up too early :-) She goes across the street to get Sera each day for me and brings her back to school at 3:30. She is so responsible now. She has even volunteered for diaper duty, bathed Sera and dressed her. She is a wonderful helper! I am also very proud of her for working so hard to try to keep up with school. She has had a long standing struggle with wanting to read independently for fun and she read a 13 pt book for her Accellerated Reader goal on her own and was even excited about the story and eager to read the next. She even got a 100% on her test, which she was all SMILES about! So was I!
Now to the child I know most of you are most eager to hear about.... Sera YangYang, my most recent miracle baby! She is just the most amazing little person! She absolutely hated me while in China.... which was often very hard to take, but I knew in my heart that it would pass. Well... pass it has! She even come up for absolutely no reason last night and kissed me and hugged me! I have been getting lots of kisses and hugs, but generally when Andy kisses me or I have given her something to eat or dressed her in clothes she really likes.
She is babbling and talking all the time and says many things very clearly. She loves apples and has learned that if she points at them and then says "yummy", she gets an apple. Once I give it to her and tell her what it is, she will say "apple". She says car, more, go, bye bye ( dye dye), Andy , GeGe, JieJie, Mommiea, doggie, potty, yuck, no and many more things in Chinese I do not always catch. She thrills to be able to point to something to request it and receive it.
She also really seems to love that we have a routine in the house and she knows what is happening next! The last few weeks for her have to have been awful, with all the hotels, police stations, consulate appts etc... yesterday she loved getting up and getting dressed in the morning and put her own shoes on and her coat on after just 4 days of doing it!! She came home and immediately took it off and hung it up and took her shoes of and went to go sit at the table while laughing all the while! She has figured out bedtime and is no longer crying when we put her down at 8, when Andy goes to bed. She wanted to stay up with Aubri and I.... Thursday and Friday nights were so much better! She laughed when I got her bathed and in her PJ's and snuggled right up with her wawa's when I put their music on. She did not cry the first day I left her at daycare, Tuesday, and just stared at me blankly, which broke my heart.... She cried when Aubri went to get her and did not want to leave with her. BUT Wednesday, she fussed at me when I took her to daycare, which is right across the street from my classroom and I can see her outside playing. She then was all giggles when Aubri went to go get her and ran to me when she came in the classroom and gave me a big hug! Every day since has been similar and she has been such a happy girl to see us again, but has also been a happy and good girl at daycare. I could not ask for a bigger blessing!!
We ran into our solutions for her medical care while out shopping for a school project for Aubri. Dr. Franz and I had discussed having her lip repaired here in town and sending her to Children's Mercy for the eye repair with the more specialized operating equipment available. We had also discussed Shriner's. She was worried about the costs I would incur with having to be off work and recommended that I try to do things locally to be able to be closer to home and not having to pay for travel etc.. I really thought that Shriners also used your insurance deductibles, just like any other hospital. ... Well I have found out that going to Michael's last Saturday was the day I was supposed to be there, because Sera now has a shriner sponsoring her and they say that they will help me not only with medical care costs, but also transportation to the hospital! It will end up being more cost effective for me to travel out of town and take the deduct days from work, because I will not be paying that huge insurance deductible! I know they have the best surgical options for her there and her eyes will be able to drain properly some day soon! Another blessing I could not have imagined would fall into place so quickly!!
Sera is now RUNNING down the halls and starting to go up stairs without help! Just last week she was falling when she walked down our long hall. She is so much sturdier on her feet! She still toddles some and walks with her legs a bit further apart than most 3 yr olds, but she is also balancing quite the little buddah belly while walking :-) I am sure this will thin out also, the more she is up and moving. right now her wardrobe is a bit limited though, since her tummy is too big for the jeans ore skirts I have in her size. ( When we saw the Dr last Tuesday, she is below the 5th percentile in height, BUT above the 50th in weight!) She is having to wear elastic waists and some of the 2T s with elastic are still too tight, even though the length of the 18 month pants is perfect! I have about a weeks worth of clothing for her for winter that will fit her and she is so thrilled with the new things I have brought out that we are going out shopping today to try to get her a few more things that will go around her! She loves to be girlie and frilly, so thankfully dresses are her best option. Believe it or not, she is too tubby for the overalls!! They make her look like a little bowling ball! I love her in the dresses with leggings though....She just looks so darn cute!
The abve photos were taken in my classroom after school. My kids really enjoy playing with my friend Deb's two kiddos and truly enjoy each other's company, as these photos show! Having little people around really spices up life!!!
Please keep up the prayers and know that they have been and continue to be GREATLY appreciated!!
While I returned ill, and have pretty much stayed that way with a newly acquired virus from having been in a doctor's office last week, the kids have all really worked their roles out so smoothly! And so much more quickly than I would have ever dreamed possible! I have just tried to keep my head above water, enery wise with continuing to still be sick and needing to go back to work and really did not expect much else to change for the better, just that we would get through these first few weeks until Christmas break and then maybe see some improvements. Andy was still having huge issues with Aubri 6 months after coming home and I really was prepared for a rough road for several months. I had been so worried about how Andy would handle being the big brother and not longer the "baby". I had worried that Aubri would also collapse with exhaustion, since she was such a help on the trip and went through all the "no sleep" days and nights that I had. I worried that she would be harder on Andy and prefer her sister....
I am really having to come to terms that my worrying is either a total waste of time or that if I really worry about it, it will not happen and the totally unexpected is what will happen and that worrying is the best preventative measure... I can't decided which it is though...
Andy has really stepped up to the plate of being a big brother. He is very gentle and caring for his sister and very willing to share with her. He enjoys helping her and seems to feel important in his new role. He has been clingy on occasion and wanted extra assurance that I love him, but it has lessened over the two weeks and he is not always wanting to hold my hand! I didn't mind it a bit, because I had really missed that little hand in mine and his sweet cuddles!
Aubri went back to school and is handling her new role just wonderfully. She is still a bit tired and will still fall asleep quickly when in a moving vehicle and bedtime is not a problem at all, but she is not grouchy or irritable with me or her siblings, beyond the usual complaints that I made her get up too early :-) She goes across the street to get Sera each day for me and brings her back to school at 3:30. She is so responsible now. She has even volunteered for diaper duty, bathed Sera and dressed her. She is a wonderful helper! I am also very proud of her for working so hard to try to keep up with school. She has had a long standing struggle with wanting to read independently for fun and she read a 13 pt book for her Accellerated Reader goal on her own and was even excited about the story and eager to read the next. She even got a 100% on her test, which she was all SMILES about! So was I!
Now to the child I know most of you are most eager to hear about.... Sera YangYang, my most recent miracle baby! She is just the most amazing little person! She absolutely hated me while in China.... which was often very hard to take, but I knew in my heart that it would pass. Well... pass it has! She even come up for absolutely no reason last night and kissed me and hugged me! I have been getting lots of kisses and hugs, but generally when Andy kisses me or I have given her something to eat or dressed her in clothes she really likes.
She is babbling and talking all the time and says many things very clearly. She loves apples and has learned that if she points at them and then says "yummy", she gets an apple. Once I give it to her and tell her what it is, she will say "apple". She says car, more, go, bye bye ( dye dye), Andy , GeGe, JieJie, Mommiea, doggie, potty, yuck, no and many more things in Chinese I do not always catch. She thrills to be able to point to something to request it and receive it.
She also really seems to love that we have a routine in the house and she knows what is happening next! The last few weeks for her have to have been awful, with all the hotels, police stations, consulate appts etc... yesterday she loved getting up and getting dressed in the morning and put her own shoes on and her coat on after just 4 days of doing it!! She came home and immediately took it off and hung it up and took her shoes of and went to go sit at the table while laughing all the while! She has figured out bedtime and is no longer crying when we put her down at 8, when Andy goes to bed. She wanted to stay up with Aubri and I.... Thursday and Friday nights were so much better! She laughed when I got her bathed and in her PJ's and snuggled right up with her wawa's when I put their music on. She did not cry the first day I left her at daycare, Tuesday, and just stared at me blankly, which broke my heart.... She cried when Aubri went to get her and did not want to leave with her. BUT Wednesday, she fussed at me when I took her to daycare, which is right across the street from my classroom and I can see her outside playing. She then was all giggles when Aubri went to go get her and ran to me when she came in the classroom and gave me a big hug! Every day since has been similar and she has been such a happy girl to see us again, but has also been a happy and good girl at daycare. I could not ask for a bigger blessing!!
We ran into our solutions for her medical care while out shopping for a school project for Aubri. Dr. Franz and I had discussed having her lip repaired here in town and sending her to Children's Mercy for the eye repair with the more specialized operating equipment available. We had also discussed Shriner's. She was worried about the costs I would incur with having to be off work and recommended that I try to do things locally to be able to be closer to home and not having to pay for travel etc.. I really thought that Shriners also used your insurance deductibles, just like any other hospital. ... Well I have found out that going to Michael's last Saturday was the day I was supposed to be there, because Sera now has a shriner sponsoring her and they say that they will help me not only with medical care costs, but also transportation to the hospital! It will end up being more cost effective for me to travel out of town and take the deduct days from work, because I will not be paying that huge insurance deductible! I know they have the best surgical options for her there and her eyes will be able to drain properly some day soon! Another blessing I could not have imagined would fall into place so quickly!!
Sera is now RUNNING down the halls and starting to go up stairs without help! Just last week she was falling when she walked down our long hall. She is so much sturdier on her feet! She still toddles some and walks with her legs a bit further apart than most 3 yr olds, but she is also balancing quite the little buddah belly while walking :-) I am sure this will thin out also, the more she is up and moving. right now her wardrobe is a bit limited though, since her tummy is too big for the jeans ore skirts I have in her size. ( When we saw the Dr last Tuesday, she is below the 5th percentile in height, BUT above the 50th in weight!) She is having to wear elastic waists and some of the 2T s with elastic are still too tight, even though the length of the 18 month pants is perfect! I have about a weeks worth of clothing for her for winter that will fit her and she is so thrilled with the new things I have brought out that we are going out shopping today to try to get her a few more things that will go around her! She loves to be girlie and frilly, so thankfully dresses are her best option. Believe it or not, she is too tubby for the overalls!! They make her look like a little bowling ball! I love her in the dresses with leggings though....She just looks so darn cute!
The abve photos were taken in my classroom after school. My kids really enjoy playing with my friend Deb's two kiddos and truly enjoy each other's company, as these photos show! Having little people around really spices up life!!!
Please keep up the prayers and know that they have been and continue to be GREATLY appreciated!!
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