Happy Halloween!

Sagwa,the Chinese Cat, Meigan, the Chinese Dragon, Grim Reaper

Check out the handmade hat we bought in China!
Not sure if I should be afraid of this scary guy sitting next to me!


The kids had a great time trick-or-treating. Logan went around the neighborhood with some friends and one of their moms. I guess he was the grim reaper. He enjoyed scaring Rocky in his costume. Makes me feel safer knowing if Jason, Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers shows up at our door, Rocky would just run away!
Mom and I took the girls to a few houses in our neighborhood and then we went to my parents old neigborhood down by Naples High School to visit the neighbors. They all enjoyed meeting Meigan.
Since Meigan is unable to eat candy right now, we would hide it from her view and luckily, she was clueless about what was going on!
Anyway, the kids got way too much candy as usual, but that's the fun of it. I remember Matt and I dumping our bags when we got home to see who got what or had more.
Logan went through his tonight to pick out gum and hard candy for the soldiers who are fighting in Iraq. His class is sending care packages and he remembered a request for those items. He has such a big heart:)

Lookin' cool in my shades and "no-no's"!

Home from Hollywood!

Valerie, 19 mon., Madeline, 3 1/2, Jennifer and Meigan. Valerie is as big as Meigan! They all had fun together!
Oops! Lost my sock!
Feeling better the second day!
Mommy pulling the wagon on the PICU floor!


This is my second attempt at posting. Somehow I lost my previous one after uploading pics. Sorry, but this will be shorter.
We made it back home after visiting for an hour with a friend I met from a Yahoo group. Her oldest daughter, Madeline, 3 1/2, and Meigan are from the same orphanage in Kunming. We have been wanting to meet for some time. They live right across Alligator Alley in Davie, Fl. The girls had fun playing together and hope to see them again soon.
Meigan is doing well. She slept most of the way home. When we got home, she headed straight for her highchair! I panicked about what to feed her, but tomato soup suited her fine. I have to feed her myself, but she did'nt seem to mind as long as the food comes! (She suckered her night nurse into giving her jello at 1am this morning, I was told!)
She's doing ok with the no-nos, velcro armsplints to prevent her from putting her fingers in her mouth. She wears them to bed.
She goes back for her post-op visit in 2weeks. If all is well with the palate, we move on to phase 2(lip and nose revision) in Dec.
Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers! I know that's what got us through!

Update on Meigan

I talked to Stephanie this evening and she said that Meigan is doing well. Dr. Stelnicki saw her today and all indications are that she should be able to go home tomorrow. Meigan is eating soft things now such as vanilla pudding, chicken soup and apple sauce. Steff says that Meigan still has an appetite, which is good. Steff thought that Meigan might have to just drink liquids this week, but as long as the food is very thin, she can have that instead.

Stephanie got to pull Meigan and Jennifer down the hall in a wagon at the hospital this evening. I guess the girls loved it. Steff sent a picture of Meigan on her cellphone and she was smiling, so that was reassuring that Meigan is doing alright after the surgery. Guess she's just a tough little girl.

Hopefully, Stephanie will be home tomorrow night, so she can give you an update.

Update from Joyce (Stephanie's Mom)

Surgery Over

Meigan had her surgery this morning on her palate. She made it through the surgery alright, but after she woke up, she had a croupy cough that sounded a lot like Logan had and some difficulty breathing. So they gave Meigan a breathing treatment and she did fine after that. Meigan must have had some irritation from the mouth surgery that affected her throat.

Meigan is in PICU today and probably tomorrow. Stephanie fed her a little apple juice thru a medicine dropper this evening and they want her to continue to get her to take liquids by mouth even though she has an IV.

Will write more information tomorrow when I hear from Stephanie on how Meigan is doing.

Meigan's Upcoming Surgery

Tomorrow afternoon, Scott, Jennifer, Meigan and I will head over to Hollywood, Fl. where the children's hospital is located. Logan will be staying with some friends while we are away, so he's happy about that. Originally, we planned on taking 2 vehicles so Scott could come home with the kids on Sunday evening and I would stay at the hospital until Meigan was discharged and drive home myself, but the more I thought about it, I wasn't so sure I wanted to be by myself considering the fact the first day, Meigan will be in ICU.
We also are staying at a place that's like the Ronald Mcdonald House on the hospital grounds so we are thankful for that. I have to have Meigan at the hospital at 5:45 Sunday morning and her surgery will be later that morning. Scott and I will take turns being with her before she goes in.
Part of me thinks this is too much, too soon. We've barely had her a month.I do not look forward to seeing her in so much pain. I also have seen more hospital than I care to in the last 2 1/2 months. We knew going into this that she would have to undergo surgery(ies). I guess between losing Matt this summer and Logan being so sick, it's a bit overwhelming. I know this is what Meigan needs though, and time is of the essence if we want her to be able to have understandable speech. American babies with cleft palates usually have surgery around 12-18 months so their speech would likely be normal. Meigan is almost 27 months. Her chances for normal speech are still good, but the sooner the better because she can get speech therapy when she is well.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers this week. Hopefully she will be ready to be discharged on Tues. . My parents are in Tn., but I will have my mom post updates on the blogsite.

Trip to the Beach

Logan trying to catch fish with a bucket!
Eat your heart out Baywatch Babes!
Playing in the sand with my sissy!
Great-Grandma and Meigan scooping sand!

This evening was so beautiful outside, we decided to go down to the beach since my grandma is down visiting and we hadn't taken Meigan yet. At first, she didn't want me to let her down in the sand so we sat down on a towel so she could feel it with her hands and feet. Didn't take long after watching Logan and Jennifer that this soft stuff is kinda fun but she didn't like getting sandy. Then she got braver and we walked down to the water but wouldn't let it come near her feet. It was so funny watching her try to run from it! After about an hour, Logan, Jennifer, Gaga and Meigan were all in the water swimming around! Can you believe she didn't want to get out, but the sun was going down, and she was getting cold, so we packed up and called it a day. Looking forward to more fun times at the beach!

Jennifer's Belated Birthday Party

Happy 5th Birthday, Jenn-Jenn! We love you!
Like my new wheels?
Girlfriends forever!
This cake's not too bad, Sissy!!


Even though Jennifer's actual birthday was a month ago, (the day we left for China), we felt she got cheated by not having the Bratz birthday party she had been talking about for months. Celebrating her birthday in Chicago with our adoption group friends just didn't cut it for her. Today was her day and everyone had a great time, including Meigan who really hammed it up for everyone! For all we know this may have been the only party she has been a part of. She loves cake, no doubt there!

Happy Friday!

Eating is my favorite thing to do!! Any more yogurt?



Today we visited a friend of mine, Tracy. She is in the process of adopting a baby girl from China, too. Three of the pics were taken by her and I thought they turned out so cute! Thanks for taking them, Tracy!
Have a great weekend!

Visit with Dr. Stelnicki

Yesterday, we had Meigan's first visit with the craniofacial specialist, Dr. Stelnicki. She was very good about opening her mouth and letting him look inside. It was obvious she has had to do it probably many times before because she did't seem bothered by it. He wants to repair her palate first and 2-3 months later do the lip and nose revision. Her palate surgery is scheduled for Oct. 22! Just 2 weeks away! I wasn't expecting to have it so soon, but otherwise it would not happen until Dec. and maybe by then she would be ready for the second surgery. She will be at Joe Dimaggio Children's Hospital for 2 days in Hollywood, Fl. That's probably 1 1/2 hrs. from Naples if that.
Tomorrow we go to the pediatric dentist to evaluate her teeth. Her 2 front teeth are in poor condition and some have not come in due to the cleft going through her gum line. So little to have to go through so much.
Today, Jennifer, Meigan and I went to Pizza Hut for the lunch buffet. Meigan chowed as usual, eating more than me! Where she puts it, I have no clue! I joke that she needs her own short order cook because as fast as you can fix it, she can eat it!
Her patience is zero when it comes to fixing her meals. Dinner time is especially hard because it takes longer and she knocks on the oven for it to come out! Otherwise though, she really is a happy baby and coming along with her adjustments. I've yelled at Rocky so much, she now does it in her baby language. It's so funny! We call her "little Mao" (Mao Tse Tung, the Chinese dictator)!

End of the Week Update

This kodak moment makes it all worth the crazy week!
"See, I do love my sister!"

(Helping with laundry)

Well, this week has been a week of dr. visits, meltdowns, Jennifer going back to school, shear terror of the dog and pure exhaustion for all of us. Meigan had to have bloodwork done and her results came back fine, which is quite a relief! Logan missed all this week of school due to him still recovering from being so sick. Should be ready to go back on Monday.
We have had some break throughs tonight that have made the week seem not so bad. Meigan actually hugs her sister from time to time in between pinching and smacking her. I wasn't expecting such jealousy, but I think she will work through since Meigan does like playing with her brother and sister. She doesn't like it when I hug them, too.
Her fear of Rocky is slowly subsiding. He was laying on the floor chewing on a bone. I sat down next to him and started petting him so she would see me. She sat down next to me and actually touched him! The beginning of the week , she would freak out just being in the same room with him.
She also knows how to use a potty. After our walk, she came in and pulled down her shorts, Jennifer helped take off her diaper and she sat on the potty chair and peed! Then she proceeded to go behind the table and squat. I got her right away and sat her back down and she pooped in the potty! Will be interesting to see if it continues!

Finally Made It Home!

Just a quick note before literally dropping in my own bed! We made it back to Ft. Myers this afternoon around 2:30. No problems. Logan slept through the whole hour ride back from Atlanta. This afternoon had him in the pediatrician's office because his cough still sounds horrible and still puny. I don't think it hit me how serious his condition was until the dr said if this had happened while on the Hong Kong flight things could have been much more dire. I truly believe Logan's Uncle Matt watched over him until we could safely get him the medical care he needed. We could not have asked for a better children's hospital. The drs and staff were awesome with him.
Rocky came home today, too and Meigan is terrified of him! I'm sure he looks like some huge crazy monster to her! She went balistic when he gave her a lick! Poor little thing. It will take her a little while to deal with all the adjustments she has endured. New family, new food, new dog, house, etc.
Look forward to showing off our little China Doll. She has dr appt. tom'row. Want to make sure she doesn't have the same thing as Logan.

Not home yet

Well we are not home yet due to some unexpected circumstances on our return flight from Chicago. Logan had not been feeling well when we left Hong Kong. Just figured he had a cold, would take him to the dr. when we got home. Get to Chicago, he worsens. Starting to get croupy, bark like coughing, fever, chills. Still thinking just need to get home. Gave him Motrin to get us by. On our flight from Chicago, Logan tells Scott he can't breathe and wants them to drop the oxygen. You could tell by looking at him he was struggling to breathe and very scared.
The stewardess brought an oxygen tank and mask for him to breathe and wanted to know if any medical personnel was on the plane. Several people came to our rescue and gave Logan some albuterol inhalant. He still wasn't doing that well, so the pilot did an emergency landing in Atlanta. Paramedics were waiting for us at the airport. Logan was then transported to a local hospital and later that night they transferred him to a children's hospital for admittance. Not much fun considering he had never been in the hospital before and having a IV was very traumatic. He had several breathing treatments, lots of blood work and tests. Scary ordeal for all of us. So Logan was discharged this afternoon and we will fly home tomorrow.
He's doing better thank goodness.
Our other ordeal was my overnight bag which had been in carry on was left on the plane. In all the rush to get Logan off the plane, it got left behind on the plane in the overhead compartment.
This bag had all our adoption documents in it which proved Meigan was ours. As if Logan being sick wasn't enough, we had no way of knowing if the bag was found and taken to Ft. myers lost and found. long story short, we found out the bag is in Ft. Myers waiting for us.
We are currently in a hotel here in Atlanta. My cell phone is dead, but you can reach us at 404-768-8484 rm. 415.
Next time I write, I pray we are finally home!