December 2010
We have been home for 6 months now, which is mind boggling! It’s
amazing that it has been that long already, but it feels as if
she’s been in our family her whole life. It’s very strange. I
know she wasn’t here when she was 3 months, 1 year, or even 2
years old… but I almost feel as if she was. A lot has happened
in the past 3 months since I updated last. The main adjustment
we had after returning home was definitely sleep. But it is with
great pleasure that I tell you that she is in a completely
normal routine… just like Kyra and Ryann. She falls asleep
alone, and stays asleep with no one sleeping on her floor!
What’s really funny is that when we were going through that
time, it felt like it would never end, and we were going a bit
crazy. But now looking back, it’s honestly a distant memory. We
actually kind of forget that time. I equate it to when Kyra and
Ryann were babies and we had the night feedings. And I’m amazed
at how God helps you to truly forget how hard that time is. But
if we didn’t, no one would ever have more than one child!
The biggest news though is that we decided to go ahead with her
surgery sooner. We had thought about January, but we didn’t want
to run the risk of her not being totally ready to “go” by the
time the weather turned nice in the spring. So on November 22nd,
Leah had a symes amputation which involves removing the front
part of the foot and using the heel pad as the new “base”. (The
technical name is stump… but I really don’t like that word!) She
did beautifully through surgery and recovery. She has been
bearing weight on it and went for a second foot fitting today.
Her first try was not too successful because we thought we had
enough room for a pin system to lock the foot in, but it ended
up being about ½” longer than her good leg. So for the second
fitting, we did away with that and it all fit very well! She
took some first steps holding Daddy’s hands, but then quickly
started walking completely unassisted! She’s pretty stiff with
it right now, but it will just be a matter of time before she
gets used to how everything feels. We have no doubt that she’ll
be walking limp free very soon! Since the fit was good, we got
to bring it home with us! It’s not actually the final product
yet. There are a few things that will be redone if everything
goes well with her using this one. We are so thankful to be
another step closer to having this major event basically come to
a close. Once all the components are finalized and she is used
to the prosthesis, we consider that done. Of course she’ll need
to have things refitted as she grows, but to us that’s the same
as getting new clothes in the next size… meaning that it’s
really not a big deal.
One great memory from the past 3 months is getting together with
the family that told us where Leah had been living in China.
They adopted a girl that was from the same home province as
Leah, and also lived at Blue Sky with her. They just returned
home with their second adopted child, who was one of Leah’s best
buddies from Blue Sky as well! You can check out their awesome
story and journeys to both
Grace
and
Eli. It was
wonderful to get the girls together, and we can’t wait to see
them again with Eli home! Leah is beyond ready!!!
On top of her surgery, we have just had some very busy months
around here… I’ll leave it at that! But despite that, we have
settled into a great routine, and feel completely normal again!
Leah is such a happy girl, and is so adaptable and determined!
We have really noticed how much through this time with her
surgery. It’s sad to think that she had to develop that kind of
personality because of her start in the world, but these traits
will serve her very well in life. And we are praying that she
won’t remember much of these first few years, which she
shouldn’t. We are very much looking forward to the new year and
seeing some of the busyness of these past months start to fade.
We hopefully have gone through the majority of it all, and can
start to relax and just enjoy our family. We are very blessed
and content with our family of five, and have no plans to add to
that as of now. But I never say never, because I just don’t know
if God will call us to adopt again. And I hope that if He did,
we would hear it and obey. But for now… we are GOOD! |
I just loved this one of her wearing
a hat from one of Daddy’s
companies
Leah and Grace!
Leah’s feet the night before surgery
Doing ballet post surgery
(we used the pack ‘n play to contain her while healing)
Sweet girl! |
