More Updates on Shelby

Shelby with her mother (and another woman) in China

We've received a few more updates on Shelby. The family and doctors need your prayers more than ever. Shelby isn't improving and it seems like she may even be worse. Her oxygen levels are low which makes her feel weak and tired and she'll defintely need another major surgery. Yesterday she underwent catheterization to stent open the graft they placed in the surgery last week (it had closed) to allow blood flow to one lung again. That was successful, but she still has a long way to go and will most likely be on oxygen until they can perform the next surgery in a few months.

Her mom gave the following prayer requests:

1) first, that we can bring her home soon, and that her spirits will stay up despite her new physical limitations. We hope her newly formed trust for us will span this rough period. She thought that surgery was going to make her feel better, but she really feels worse right now, and the feeling better stage will yet be a long time coming.

2)second, that her left lung will flourish under the new blood flow, (think BIG GROWING BLOOD VESSELS!)

3)Third, that our family will make the adjustments necessary to accomodate Shelby's condition. (and stay healthy, Shelby will be much more susceptible to viruses etc. during this time.)

First Day of Summer

Lightning Bug Lovers!

Funny, but I barely got outside today, the first day of summer. We hung around in our pjs in the morning and did some crafts. Miyah loves the book, Bunny Money, and we've been talking about making a wallet like Ruby's for a long time. So, we got some craft foam and made a wallet for Miyah's Bunny Money. It's a great little lesson in money while you read the book. There's even a cute website for printing off the Bunny Money, but you can also photocopy it from the book and that's what we did.
Then we played with play-do and measured with beans.

For some reason Mei Lin has started to smile this funny smile every time she sees the camera. Soon after this picture was taken, the phone rang and she began licking the play-do. It happened to be the pediatric cardiologist's office saying they needed to reschedule her appointment. So, she won't be seen now until the middle of August...arghhh!

Then tonight we celebrated Summer with ice cream out on the deck. Mei Lin was pretty much attached to that straw! And of course Miyah found a couple of lightning bugs. It's our nightly ritual now.

(not the cutest photo - but it's too funny!)

*******H A P P Y * S U M M E R !!!!*******

Happy Father's Day!

Bike rides, walks, basketball, ping pong, and watching Murder She Wrote....these are just a few of my favorite memories with my dad. He was always involved in our lives...coaching our sports or taking us for ice cream. I'm so blessed to have a wonderful father! Thanks, Dad!! I love you!!
And I'm so thankful to the man that helped raise my husband to be the man that he is today. After Pat's father died, his mother remarried a bachelor who'd never been married or had any children. Yet Bill took on the responsibility of raising four children! It's fun to watch him enjoy his grandkids. Happy Father's Day, Bill. We all love you!!


And I can't express enough how much I love and appreciate the wonderful father that my husband is to our children. I love you, hon!

Meeting Old Friends

Are other adoptive mothers like me? In the busyness of day-to-day life, when it's hard to remember a time without their adopted child, does something cause them to pause and wonder about the months before they came into their new family? Do we all wonder about the people they knew and spent those first important days with?

I'm hopelessly curious and would move heaven and earth to piece together my daughters' pasts. But I'm afraid the tiny fragments are all we'll ever have.

Thankfully, we do know some of the precious little ones that our daughters spent their first year or more with. And this week we got a special treat. We got a visit from Jada, the little girl who slept in a crib next to Miyah's during their first year in the orphanage. They most likely whiled away their days babbling and playing together between crib bars. Jada is staying with us while her mom is here on business and then we will spend the weekend with them both.

The girls are having so much fun together. We live quite a distance apart and so they haven't seen each other since their adoption in China. Even though they don't remember one another, it's like they're old friends. When I mentioned that to Jada's mother she said, "Well they've known each other longer than we have!"

And I guess that's true.

Wednesday we picked them up from the hotel and went to the zoo and then took lunch to the 'fountain park' for som water fun.

























Feeding the lorikeets at the zoo


Playing in the fountains

Good News on Shelby!

I've had several ask for updates on Shelby. Basically, the surgery was shorter and the outcome more positive than they expected. They reconnected her left pulmonary artery back up to the other artery and performed a "Glen" which is connecting a passive flow system inot the lungs via the main supply which comes from the upper body (I won't even pretend to know what all that means). They think this will supply enough oxygen to her body and she may not need the second part of the surgery!

Her father writes:

"It is such wonderful news and is far better than we could have expected! Please continue to pray for us and we are so thankful for the many, many messages and people we don't even know who are praying for Shelby and our family. God is indeed amazing!"

Prayer Request

(Picture: Shelby (far left) at home with her siblings)

A little 8.5 year old girl needs your prayers in the coming weeks.

Shelby was on our agency's China waiting child list last year. I still remember the beautiful photos of the little girl with a severe heart defect. A family accepted her soon after she was put on the list.

Then one day there was a note under her beautiful photo that said she wasn't adoptable because it was decided that her heart condition was inoperable and she wouldn't live very long.

Well, there was an amazing family that fought to bring her home anyway. While China said she wasn't a candidate for surgery, they prayed and spoke with doctors who thought there may be something they could do for Shelby. She was diagnosed in China with having only one ventricle in her heart and only one pulmonary artery to feed her lungs.

Shelby came home a few months ago and is going to have surgery this week! This is going to be an amazingly complex surgery which will basically restructure her heart.

Please pray for this little girl and her family. The surgery is Wednesday and they expect she will recover in the hospital for 3 weeks.

Matt's Birthday Party

Pat took Matt and his friends on a kayaking trip yesterday for Matt's early birthday party. Then the boys came back for pizza, cake, and video games.

Matt had a great time and thanked us a dozen times.

Spencer and Andrew are great guys and Matt's so blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Happy 17th Birthday, Matt!!

Photos

We're loving having more time with Matt. He's so sweet with his little sisters.

Miyah is our little entomologist. She's absolutely bug-crazy these days. Spiders, pill bugs, fireflies, lady bugs, cicada cases, crickets, and a couple unidentified bugs have all found themselves in her bug house recently.