Monday, December 14, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
4th of July - Kaycee loved the fireworks! We also ventured north to the Omaha Zoo, and we all enjoyed the animals and the awesome weather. Emilee showed a horse in Oklahoma this summer, so we rode tripped to Stilwater for a weekend. We went out on Aunt Julie and Uncle Tony's boat and got to go tubing and swimming in the lake. We got a slip 'n slide, so during the week the girls would spend the evenings on the slip n slide. Emilee went back to school last Thursday, and Kaycee is in Pre-school at Dinosaur Den. Emilee goes to Dino Den before and after school, so it works out great. It is amazing how much Kaycee has grown this summer, things are really clicking now. Kaycee can count to 100 (with a little help), recognizes all of the numbers up to 10, recognizes must of the letters of the alphabet, can identify all of the colors and shapes. Kaycee is learning Spanish and sign langage at Dinosaur Den. She does not seem to be too far off developmentally. Though I must say she is definitely testing us to determine what her boundaries are! Kaycee has not gained any more weight, so I think that her body finally understands that there will always be enough food. Her favorite things to eat are scrambled eggs, watermelon, apples, yogurt, noodles, rice, chicken, hot dogs and beef sticks. Kaycee LOVES to sing, and unless she is sleeping, she is probably singing - I have heard her singing in her sleep. She no longer sings from her Chinese CD's, she would rather listen to her sister's music - Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift - and of course Emilee hates that. Kaycee had a three month follow-up appointment with the cardiologist, and she is doing great and does not have to go back for a year! The doctor thinks that she is doing great, but will be able to tell more in a year after she grows some more. Kaycee has grown an inch since we were at the doctor the end of May. We looking forward to the fall season - Kaycee & Emilee both have birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas! Can you say - over stimulation! This will be a very exciting time for all of us.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Friday, May 1, 2009
As you can tell from the above video, Kaycee is quite the dancer! She loves to listen to her CD's with Chinese children's song on it. Kaycee will blast the music and sing as loud as she can - at that point the rest of us are either rolling on the floor laughing or heading to the basement for some peace and quite. I am pretty sure that they thought the kids yoga & dance while in the orphanage.
Kaycee went for her Pre-Op hospital visit today. We have to be at the hospital at 8am on Monday May 4th. We met the surgeon, and he was very nice and calmed some of out fears of the surgery. All of the nurses were wonderful - which is what you would expect from a Children's Hospital. We spent 3hrs at the hospital - vital signs, meeting with the doctor's, blood draw and chest x-ray. Kaycee was a real trooper so we stopped at McDonald's for some artery clogging food! The blood draw was not so bad this time. I explained to the nurses about what happened last time, with her triple jointed elbow, so they but some numbing cream on her arm and hand. Kaycee screamed when she saw the needles, but once they were in her, she stopped crying and watched! She has very slow flowing blood, so it took a LONG time to get the 3 bottles of blood. Kaycee will be in ICU until Tuesday afternoon, then transferred to a regular room, probably to go home on Thursday. This surgery will repair the hole in her heart and she will have no restricts for the rest of her life. My parents (and Shasta) are coming on Sunday so that they can watch Emilee, and take her to and from school - thanks Granny & Pappy! We will all be glad when this is over.
Kaycee will start pre-school the end of the month. She is very excited because mom is just not entertaining enough. I try and do something special everyday, but I just can't compete against a room full of kids. I understand.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Kaycee continues to change on a daily basis. Her eating has slowed down some, but she continues to like most foods. The only thing that she seems to not like on a constant basis is canned fruit, she prefers fresh fruit - but who wouldn't! We have gone to story time at the library, and she seems to enjoy the interaction with other kids. Mom has become a real bore at home! The first month everything was new and interesting, but now that she is use to things, mom is boring! She loves to play outside, and took right off on a big wheel and a 3-wheeled scooter. She gets frustrated when Emilee goes so much faster than her because Emilee is on a bicycle, so I am sure that it won't be long before Kaycee is on a bike. Kaycee enjoyed the Easter holiday. We had an egg hunt at Aunt Julie's when Granny & Pappy came to visit, and the Easter bunny left some eggs at our house on Easter morning - Kaycee was confused on why there were eggs scattered all over the house - she kept saying that the house was "messy". Kaycee was not too excited about the candy, except for the Reeses Peanut Butter eggs - darn, those are mom's favorite! We took our first trip to Deanna Rose park this spring - Kaycee loved it! Kaycee loved feeding the goats a bottle of milk, but would get mad when they would not sit on her lap.
We visited the cardiologist last week to have them exam her heart, and then validated all of the information that the Chinese doctors gave us. Kaycee has VSD (Ventricular Septum Defect), and the hole is about 11cm, which is a moderate size. She is not in any immediate danger, but it does need to be repaired. Doctors will put a patch over the hole, and then the muscle will grow over the hole, and she will lead a normal life with no restrictions. So, on Monday May 4th Kaycee will undergo open heart surgery at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. The procedure is very common and easy for the doctors to do, but that does not help parents that are sitting in the waiting room knowing that their child is having a bypass surgery. She will probably be in the hospital for 3-4 days - isn't that amazing! Then home for rest - any ideas on how to keep a 4yr old resting?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Everyday we are amazed at the progess that Kaycee makes. Kaycee is such a delightful person to be around. She is very caring, thoughtful & funny!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
We have been home almost one week! Our trip home ended up lasting about 30hrs, from hotel room to our front door in Olathe, KS. We made all of the connecting flights in China, but then had a delay in Newark. Continental kept delaying the flight and then after Brian raised his voice they told us that a part fell off the brakes of the plane and they were not sure how long the delay would be. We finally made it to Kansas City at 130am and my wonderful sister was at the airport to greet us! By the time that we got home and got to bed it was 300am! We slept in Friday morning, and then finally woke the girls up in the early afternoon. Both of the girls did great on the flight home, they both slept most of the way. Kaycee cried a little on the plane, but I think that it was more that she was so tired and could not get comfortable.
Kaycee has adapted far better than either Brian or I would have anticipated. The language has not really been an issue, we just seem to figure out what the other is saying. She is starting to say some words in English, but not on a consistent basis. She seems to be a very smart girl, so I don't think that it will be long at all before she is speaking English. It is like chasing a 2 year old around our house because everything is new to her, and she wants to get into everything! She is a very girlie girl - which of course I love because Emilee is very much the opposite. Sleep has not been to much of a problem, she has a problem getting to sleep, but then she is ok for the night. Almost off of her congestion is gone, but Brian & I are on antibiotics for sinus infections. Kaycee is eating us out of house & home, and as of right now there is not much that she does not like. Her favorite foods are still corn & watermelon, but she loves yogurt, green beans, chips, french fries and pepperoni - weird stuff huh? Emilee & Kaycee are getting along wonderful - they are attached at the hip. Emilee is really going to miss Kaycee when she goes back to school on Tuesday. We have been going to the park everyday. Today was the first day that Kaycee decided that hugs were ok, so I got my first hug today! Kaycee usually has several melt downs during the day, and is still grieving, but this too could be much worse. I think that I was prepared for the worst and happy with everything so far, not that things couldn't change.