So Much Happened And Then She Was Gone. :(

It is hard to believe but we have just taken Andie to the airport for her flight back to the UK. I cannot believe that she has gone already. Actually as I type this we are sort of expecting a phone call to say come and get me because her flight was pretty full and we are not 100% sure that she will get on it. (we are very selfishly hoping that she won't!)

It took Rose all of 7 seconds to warm up to Andie, or An-nie as she called her and Lily is so in love with Andie that she was just attached to her the whole time. This had to have been the most boring holiday she has ever had because the week was spent going from one appointment to the next with very little fun thrown in between. We did have some nice plans for this weekend but sadly the weather from hurricane Gustav squashed them.We had a wonderful time with her and are so sorry to see her go.

This was our week in a nutshell:
Following Mondays MCH appointment I had an eye doc appointment on Tuesday and I actually got some very long awaited good news. My eye is 95% healed and the pressure is down! The not so good news is that I now have and will always have, atrophy in my left eye. Both the iris and the pupil are an odd shape and will remain that way but my vision is nearly perfect again so hopefully there will not be any permanent vision loss. We tried to take a close up of my newly shaped eyeball but it didn't come out very well. I sort of have a cats eye now. I think the expression Andie used was. Oh that's gross!

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Wednesday was Rosie's 18 month check up and that went well. Well that is if you don't consider all the screaming! She has finally broken the 20 lb mark( 20.4 to be exact)and is on the weight percentile chart for the first time. She isn't very far on it but who cares we all have to start somewhere. She has also sprouted up another 1 1/2inches. She is right on track developmentally and everything else looks great and we don't have to see her pediatrician again now until she is 2. She had to have 3 shots which she wasn't happy about!


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Wednesday was a pool afternoon which was fun and a much needed break from all the doctors.

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Testing the underwater function on the new camera. Sadly I managed to stick my finger over the lens.

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Thursday Lily got to show off her horse riding skills whilst Andie, Rose and myself baked in the So Fl sun. It was so hot. Lily didn't even seem to enjoy her lesson this week because of the heat.


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We even found a pony that was just the right size for Rosie

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Baking in the sun

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Sweaty Betty

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Sweaty Betty is teething!

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Friday I met with our attorney to start the paperwork for Rosie's readoption. We can get this finalised before her surgery but we asked him to postpone it until after the surgery. Puh-lease: a mother can only take so much stress before her head caves in! I flew home ASAP and we headed our to dinner with Chicken Feet, (yes that is her nickname and yes she knows we call her that, she also calls us that) for an authentic Chinese meal. It was intimidating but Andie loved it...well sort of! After a brief lessons in chopsticks she was a pro or so we thought but it wasn't until we got home that she showed us the indentations in her fingers from where she was holding them way to tight...ha ha ha.

Saturday was a lazy very rainy day and Sunday the plans were to go down to Key Largo and take a dive boat out but the storm stopped that so then we decided to go to the zoo instead cos Andie mentioned that she would love to feed the giraffes but the zoo was also closed. So we wasted a lot of time just being silly! We did make it to the park.


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Rosie, don't worry, Lily will catch you...bwa ha ha ha ha

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I love this photo of Andie. Most of the photos here are hers cos she just takes amazing photos.

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I do believe that when this video was taken I heard something muttered about how this had better not show up on the blog! Ooops, my bad.

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This is so very sad: they are sitting next to each other talking on Skype! They were comparing camera quality so they sat and chatted to each other. They are mad I tell you, mad.

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We did manage to get to the zoo today and we all fed the giraffes.

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Feeding time at the zoo. I crack myself up.

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It was hot...105 degrees hot!

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Me, I went on strike after being in that heat!

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And sadly we ended the day here:
Andie looks happy being able to escape from our home but Lily was so sad.

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Even Rosie was sad to see her An-nie leave.

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The phone hasn't rung so that means Andie is on her way. Jacob just checked the computer and even with the lack of available seats she is sitting in first class....jammy dodger!

Andie, thanks a million for coming. We had a great time. We always do. Everything is twice as funny when you are here. We all miss you already. I hope you get some rest now. Love, all of us

Horrors, this was a very long post. Congratulations, if you made it through you deserve a stiff drink.

Rosie Is All Heart, Literally.

This morning was Rosies cardiac appointment at Children's.

She has decided without a shadow of a doubt that she just does NOT like nurses and doctors. She had to sit in a special little x-ray chair that resembled "Old Sparky" and that is when all the fussing started and it continued all the way through her her EKG. I have to say that for a children's hospital and one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country, no less, the nurses there are not at all kid friendly......very odd.

Anyway the bottom line is this: her heart is no better. She does have a pectus carinatum. She wiggled so much during her x-ray that it was hard to tell if she has scoliosis or not. Her spine was very crooked on the film but the doc wasn't sure if that was just because she was fighting us.(that was not the point for the xray but since we could see her spine we decided to check. The X-ray showed her heart to be enlarged specifically the right ventricle. Now I am no radiologist but I can tell you that this kid has a HUGE heart cos we saw the films. Andie is with us and she knows abit more about this than I do and she even commented. Ahhh, my little girl is all heart....literally. That will change after her surgery and eventually her body will grow into her heart and her heart will slowly return to normal size.

On September 29th Rosie Posie will be heading back to Children's and she will undergo a procedure in the cardiac cath lab and will stay there overnight and she will leave the next morning......(drumroll please) with a healthy heart.

So there you have it. We have a date and we are ready to do it. Jacob, of course, looked most uncomfortable with the news but with all the right meds I assured him he won't feel anything either.

Some Of My Thoughts

A few weeks ago our social worker asked us if it was at all overwhelming having a special needs child. Our immediate answer was NO. It really isn't, we don't think about it. Rosie has been given a clean bill of health and her heart condition doesn't restrict her at all. Yes, we know she has a few things going on but other than her PDA all the other things are cosmetic as they do not affect her in any way.

Monday is her cardiac appointment, followed 2 days later with a well baby visit. Am I concerned? yes I am. Not because I think they will find anything but because Rosie really gets upset at the doctors office. She screams, she cries and she just gets very uncomfortable. There is nothing we can do about it. We hold her tight and comfort her once it is over and done with but she has to have all these tests done and we have to hold her down. I hate it, I really hate it. I could cry. I don't but the tears are right there. So in answer to the question, is it overwhelming having a special needs child, the answer is still no but having to take any child to a doctor as much as we have had to take Rosie and see that child get so upset hurts like hell.

If we knew a little bit more about her first year it might make it easier. We don't know how many times she was hospitalised, we know of at least 2 and the worst part is we don't know if anyone stayed with her or if she was just left alone there. I am guessing she was alone, which will not help her fear of doctors. In time the fear will subside and she will be a happy little girl whilst she is there but that time hasn't arrived yet so I have to put my game face on and deal with it all.

We have been playing doctor with her for the last few days and we have all been wearing stethoscopes, Rose included. Will it help? Who knows but it can't hurt.

To my sweet little Qi Qi.

I am sorry you have to go through this and I would do anything to avoid it but we have to make you better and make your heart strong. I promise you that very soon this will all be done and all these scary visits where people poke and prod you and strangers touch you will be a thing of the past. Until then I want you to know that Daddy and I are always right there for you, to wipe up your tears and your runny nose and to shower you with kisses adn hold you tight when it is all over.

You are such a sweet little girl and we all love you so much. You are much too smart for one so young and incredibly funny too. Your cheeky ways get you out of a lot of situations and you sweet smile lights up the room. I love that you are trying to say all the words that we say. Your favourites are, gray for grapes, lie for lights, Booboo for boobies, yes my dear sweet child you are infatuated with boobs even Lilys. You say dogogwoof, for dog, and when we hear uh-oh it is usually just before your bath when you are running around nudey and you have just pee'd on the floor, it makes your sister laugh so much. You have just started to repeat Wo Ai Ni (I love you , in Chinese) and you say, ai ni mama. You blow kisses at the people you want to and liberally dish out kisses to us.

You are the living proof that dreams really do come true.

I love you sweet baby girl,
Mummy.

My Big, Big Girl

School finally started for the year and Lily marched off into first grade with the same enthusiasm that she exudes for all new things.

Ready to go.

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Her desk

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Saying bye - bye to Daddy

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Saying Bye-bye to Rosie

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For some reason I found it very difficult to say good bye to her. I got all choked up. First grade just sounds so big and I can't believe that she is so big. Oh well. She loved her first day and her teachers so off we trot into the next school year.

It Rained.

Yes, that's it. The big storm was nothing more than gallons and gallons of rain. The media just hypes things up so much and it makes people act thoroughly nutty. Oh, it did get a little bit windy last night and I loved every second of it. I love hearing the wind blow when I am laying in bed cos it reminds me of home and being a little girl.

We are used to getting alot of rain here but it is usually accompanied by thunder and lightening but yesterday and Monday we didn't have either of those so after being housebound for nearly 2 days we did what all responsible parents do and we dressed the kiddies in some rain gear and let them splash in the puddles. We had to move the baby ducks out of the way first. They got confused and thought this neighbourhood was their lake.


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It might look cold but it was 60 degrees.

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Following this little jaunt the kidlets got taken back indoors and disinfected.

In other news I have a new camera. It isn't anything fancy but it can go underwater and is also shockproof. I think that means it won't break if I or Lily drop it as opposed to it won't gasp if you take an ugly photo. I really can't wait to take it in the pool with me. I would love to see Rosie under the water. It takes clear photos
and has lots of fancy features so once I get used to it and we can actually go outside again I will start playing.

Testing the video on the Flying Lily

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My little girl starts first grade in the morning.....sigh.

Here We Blow Again - Updated

This post could also aptly be titled, Oy Fay!

The 2008 Hurricane season is rearing it's ugly head with Fay. Florida is under a hurricane watch and we are stocked up, with generator at the ready, the hatches are battened and everything is packed away from the garden. Now we get to play the waiting game. It isn't a strong storm but it is big and it is wet. Not much to do but wait and see.

Lily's first day of school has been cancelled and she is sad about it. Heading into first grade is a big deal and she cannot wait. I also think it has something to do with all the new stuff that she has and is ready to strut her stuff with. This year she decided that backpacks were soooo kindergarten (her words) and she chose a messenger bag. She can't wait to see if anyone else had the same idea as her and she is really hoping to be different.

Wait, wait, wait.......wait some more. Oy Vey, I mean Fay.

It is now almost 24 hours later and we still don't know if we are a target for Fay or not. The weather gradually deteriorated after midnight and now we have lashing rain but that's all. I don't think it will change now until tomorrow. Flooding will be the big problem and their isn't much that we can do about. Since I am always one to see the brightside of things: it sure is fun dashing through the puddles in my new car!!!!!

Bike Ride

I love bicycle riding, I always have. One thing I looked forward to when we were waiting for Lily was the day that I could put her in a bike seat on the back of my bike and take off. She is a little bit too big for that now and she rides her own bike so now we get to ride with her and strap Rosie on the back.

Hideous photo of me I look like the broadside of a barn, but Rosie looks sweet.

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Yesterday was a perfect day for a bike ride and a picnic so we put the bikes on the back of the car and headed to one of our favourite trails. We took lots of bread and fed the birdies, well that isn't quite true because I hate it when birds flock so I stayed a safe distance away with Rose and Jacob and Lily fed the ducks. Rose did get close to them but not in the thick of things. It was such a lovely afternoon. As we were having our lunch 3 kayaks went by on the canal and Lily realised that it was some of our friends, another little girl from China and her Dad. It was great to see them and they pulled up on the bank and joined us for lunch for a few minutes.

Keeping my distance!

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Since the camera is on the fritz it won't zoom so I had to get a bit closer

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Rosie getting quite brave, at least by my standards.

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Bye Mike and Sofia.

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Later on we went to Lily's school to meet her new teachers and see her classroom and she is very happy to see that alot of her friends are still in her class and she seems to be quite happy with her teachers.

Off to the beach for a while and then Lily has her riding lesson. More photos later.