Hadley and her cousin Madison.  These are the pictures we had taken for my mother-in-law for Christmas.  Like I said before, the photographer left a lot to be desired -- these two really like to have their pictures taken.  Oh, well at least we have a picture of them together -- quite a pair, aren't they?  I do like their shirts and bows...

I'm a slacker...

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted anything.  It's been a little crazy around here.  Hadley has been recovering wonderfully from her palate repair.  She's back to her happy, dancing self.  At her last doctor's appointment she was allowed to eat anything that wasn't hard, crunchy, pointy, or chewy.  She's been very happy with the selection!  So far we haven't found anything she doesn't like -- now she has her favorites, but she's definitely not a picky eater.  She's beginning to talk more.  She still jabbers all the time, but she is beginning to say more "real" words.  I hadn't really pushed her to try very hard before her surgery because I knew she didn't have the physical ability to make many sounds, so I didn't want her to have to re-learn everything after surgery.  This week her favorite word has been "snow."  We got about 4 inches over the weekend and she is fascinated by it.  She likes to look at it and talk about it, but she doesn't want to touch it!  One touch was quite enough for her -- she still doesn't care for cold things much. 

She's grown and changed so much in the past 4 months.  She absolutely loves to dance -- it doesn't matter what kind of music she hears, or where she's at, she starts dancing.  This past weekend she figured out how to do a somersault, so now we just have to convince her that the tile floor is not the place to do them. 

While she was in the hospital, my aunt and uncle sent her a stuffed dog -- he is her new best friend.  She takes him everywhere with her.  She hugs and kisses him and sleeps with him.  When she comes home in the afternoon she is so happy to see him.  She has 2 other stuffed dogs that she likes, just not quite as much.  It's so good to see her playing with toys and attaching to one as her special toy.  She's come a long way from the baby who didn't know how to play with a toy and was scared of stuffed animals. 

Hadley really enjoyed her first Thanksgiving -- and we are certainly thankful for her.  Of course her favorite part was the food!  We celebrated with both of our families -- and I forgot to take my camera either time.  While we were at Jeff's parents Hadley got to play with her cousin Madison again.  They had a great time running and playing.  Madison continues to amaze me at how well she does with Hadley.  We took both girls to have a picture made for my mother-in-law for Christmas.  They looked adorable in their matching "name" shirts and korker bows.  What a pair they make -- Madison with her fair skin and red hair and Hadley with her black hair and olive skin!  The actual appointment was somewhat of a disaster -- I would avoid using Sears if at all possible (we didn't really have any choice as there are no other studios around).  But we got a couple (literally!) of shots that were ok.

Our Christmas decorations are up -- and boy are they different this year! -- and Hadley loves, loves, loves them.  She needs everything turned on as soon as she goes downstairs or comes home.  I only put up 2 trees this year and she loves looking at them.  She's done really well with them -- she looks and sometimes touches, but she hasn't stolen an ornaments lately.  She loves all of my snowmen and wants them to sing and dance constantly.  It's driving Heidi nuts! 

All of the shopping is done -- I still need a few stocking stuffers, but that's easy.  I haven't wrapped anything yet -- still have to figure out when and how I'm going to pull that off.  I'm curious to see what she thinks of the presents under the tree.  No doubt some of them will travel around the house and look a bit different by the time Christmas comes. 

Here are some of Hadley's Christmas pictures.  I thought she did a great job.  Some of her expressions are so funny. 

Doctor's Visit, Pictures, and a Recap

We're still here, it's just been a rough week.  But the good news is that Hadley saw the surgeon today and she is allowed to eat!!  That was the best possible news we could have gotten -- she's so over liquids.  He said that her palate looks good and everything appears to be healing correctly.  So to recap -- surgery was last Monday.  Hadley was pretty pitiful all day Tuesday and part of Wednesday.  We finally got her to start drinking Wednesday afternoon.  She drank enough that we were discharged on Thursday morning.  She was so happy to be home (we were too).  She was excited to see her dogs and toys and to take a bath (she'd been telling me that she needed one!).  But she was pretty ticked about the no food program.  She told us over and over that she wanted to eat, she showed us where her food was, and even tried to climb in her high chair.  It was awful.  To make matters worse she came down with a cold and chest congestion and she has not been sleeping.  Since she couldn't eat, we wouldn't eat in front of her (which got interesting after Jeff went back to work) and since she hasn't been sleeping, I haven't been either. So, it's been rough.  Hopefully now that she can eat again she will start sleeping and get back to her old happy self.

Why am I wearing these pjs?

The pitiful bundle of baby they gave us after surgery

Tuesday -- feeling a little better

Wednesday -- still not great, but better

Surgery

Hadley's palate was successfully repaired yesterday morning -- so far everything looks good.  She's still in some pain, but it's getting better.  She looks absolutely pitiful but she's smiled some today and played with some of her toys.  She even managed to dance a little!  Right now she is snuggled up with her Daddy.  She's gone to all of her grandparents today, so they were all pretty happy.  We're working on taking liquids by mouth and believe me it's a work in progress.  She is beginning to ask for little sips of water but she's not interested in taking very much.  We can't go home until she is able to keep herself hydrated by mouth, so we've got a long way to go.  Her surgeon cut down the amount of fluid she is getting in her IV this evening to try to force her to drink.  Today she has developed a very strong dislike for nurses -- she tries to tell them bye as soon as they come in the room.  We can't thank everyone enough for all of the prayers -- we certainly felt them yesterday.  Please continue to pray for her as she recovers.  I'll post some pictures later.

3 Months Ago Today...

in a non-descript room in Changsha our lives changed forever when a very scared baby was placed in my arms.  What a difference 3 months makes!  Hadley is the light of our lives.  She is always on the go, always busy, and always ready for a hug or kiss.  When she was placed in my arms, she didn't cry -- she just stared at me with those big dark eyes.  It is obvious that she was well taken care of -- she was healthy and clean and had obviously been fed well (which is not an easy task with a cleft baby) but she wasn't loved.  She didn't even acknowledge when the nanny left or react to her departure in any way.  Having known her for three months now, she was scared to death, but she was willing to take a chance.  It didn't take her long to decide that these strange looking people might not be so bad.  She still gets very quiet (which is NOT her normal) when she is not comfortable, but she clings to us.  She cries every morning that I take her to daycare because she doesn't want me to leave.  I doubt that she had ever been hugged or kissed or told that she was loved or she was special or beautiful -- she hears that everyday now and she just eats it up.  She greats me with hugs and smiles every afternoon after work -- there is nothing better to come home to.  She continues to amaze me.  If it's possible, I fall more in love with her everyday.  I can't wait to see what she will be into next!

Surgery day is getting closer and closer -- just 6 days now.  I'm getting more nervous everyday -- I'm ready for it to be over with.  Please keep her, us, and her doctors in your prayers.

I'll close with some pictures...

The Fall Carnival at my school was last Friday -- my parents brought her up so I could see her and show her off (THANKS!).  She's dressed in her Minnie Mouse costume but kept taking the ears off.

Yes, that's a dog bowl on her head!

This smile says it all

Halloween Costume and a Quick Update



Is this the cutest Minnie Mouse you've ever seen, or what?  This was the closest thing we got to a smile -- she just wasn't having it.  As soon as I took her to change her she was all smiles.  I can't really complain, that just shows that she's a typical 18 month old. 

In other news, we are 13 days from palate repair surgery and yes, I'm beginning to freak out.  I know that she needs the surgery (obviously), but that's my baby and they are going to put her to sleep.  It just makes me nervous. 

Since my last update, we've been to see more doctors and everything looks good.  Hadley weighed in at 23 pounds and is 31 inches long at her 18 month well child check up.  Developmentally, she's making great progress.  Of course her speech is still an issue, but I'm OK with that.  She is learning more signs and putting them together and she is talking more.  The opthamologist was very pleased with her eye movement and vision and felt like everything could be repaired.  We still don't know if she has tear ducts or not -- well, we know she doesn't have the external ducts on her lower eye lids, but we don't know about the internal structures.  But there is a pediatric eye plastic surgeon returning to UK this summer who can create them if they aren't there.  All of the doctors are pleased with her development.  We really couldn't ask for more right now. 

Pictures

Here are a few pictures from this past weekend.  We took Hadley to have Halloween pictures made -- she wasn't very interested.  She just stared at the photographer -- no smiles.  We got a few cute pictures, but nothing great.  I'll have to upload them later.  Yesterday after church we took her outside to pose with my fall porch decorations -- I'm still amazed that she didn't try to jump off of the hay bales (Jeff was ready to catch her if she tried)!  I had to include a picture of her outfit for church yesterday because I thought she looked like an angel. 

This blog is my attempt to chronicle the adventures of our daughter, Hadley, who we adopted from China in late July 2010.  If you want to see the beginning of our story, click here:  www.myadoptionwebsite.com/oursweethadley.  I just posted our final update on that site, so check it out.  I'll post more pictures soon.

Alison