Teeth, camp and....salads?

I have NEVER heard a child ask for a tooth to be pulled yet this isn't the first timeAudrey An has asked daddy-o to pull out her teeth!  Watch...she doesn't even flinch...one tough cookie!!!!

Cute little snaggle tooth gal! (little does she know she's going to have another pulled by the dentist in a couple of week. Actually, I don't think she'll mind!

Guess who visited last night? 

 Sisters at camp drop-off today...praying for a great weekend, girlies!!!

 Audrey An's FIRST overnight camp...she's SO excited and SO excited to be with her best buddy, Grace!

 Abigail's LAST "kid camp"...sniff sniff!  How can she be growing up so fast?  This is Hannah, one of her best buddies from church!

Medical update:
Grateful.  Thankful. Surreal.  WOW....are just some adjectives I'm feeling since I returned for another follow up doctor appointment. I'm feeling so much better, but I went in because I feel like my stomach is about to explode!  She said the medications are flushing out so many toxins and I am having so much problem with digestive issues, it's settling in my gut.  Sooooo....yep that's why I can't fit into any of my clothes;-(  Glad there's an additional reason added to the side affect of the glorious steroid...HA!  The ironic thing is I'm eating healthier with lots more salads and smoothies for meals, but she said that eating lots of salads is actually more hurtful to me right now because I'm unable to digest it properly, and it just settles in my gut.  SO...can't win for losing....argggggh!   Off to eat more cooked not raw foods.  Have you ever been told to NOT eat salad...lol!?!?  Oh well, maybe I'll go eat a Snickers for dinner- JUST kidding.  Well, okay....yep, nevermind....

She also said my vitals and adrenals are the best she's seen in me so far so my body is tapering off the steroid just fine. So she think I'll be fine reducing the steroid more rapidly. So we're going for it.  My endocrine system is shot due to the steroid so she's as anxious for me to get off the evil steroid as I am.  I had five more infusions yesterday (two were antibiotics). Dr. M is very pleased with my progress.  I told her I've made more progress in 6 weeks with her than the last year and a half.  I think we're on to something! It's a 1/2 day affair when I go, but it totally doesn't bother me because it's working!!!!  Praise the Lord!

GOTCHA!!!

Today, we celebrate THREE YEARS with Audrey An Xiaoli!!!  Last year I asked people to vote where they thought we'd be this Gotcha Day since we'd been in a different country for the first two.  Well, USA was the vote, and USA was the winner!

Abigail started off her mei mei's special day with a pancake breakfast...complete with crepe paper decorations, too!  I love how they both always make special days special for each other without even being asked or reminded.  Blessings!!!

Special sisters...mei mei and jie jie together!!!!  We've had a great day together.  We were just missing daddy.  I took the girls to a movie, ate at Chick-Fil-A (AA's request)....then I took her to a orthrodontic consult (was't that SO nice of me to do to her on her special day...LOL!?!?!).  We're going to have another celebration when daddy comes home and east chinese food per Audrey An's request!  We can't have too many parties.

Love those dimples, love that smile, LOVE this girl!  July 12, 2009 will forever be a special, special, special day for us.  You've come SO far, baby.  At times, I cannot believe it's already been three years since you came into our family, but in other ways I can't believe it's ONLY been three years.  Mama, Baba, and jie jie can't even imagine life without you in it.  You're a perfect fit, and it seems you've been with us since birth!  You are quite amazing.  You are joy.  You are resilient.  You are smart.  You are beautiful.  You are energizer bunny.  You are Miss Smiley Face!

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!" 

Okay, I just put her to bed and part of her prayer was, "Dear God, thank you for my fun Gotcha Day, and thank you for my special family."...ahhhhh, MELT MY HEART!!!

Medical updates:
My grandmother who we visited last week in Texas sounded like a different human being when I spoke with her this afternoon....amazing!  She sounded so much stronger AND her new physical therapist got her up and walking yesterday.  Yes, this is GREAT accomplishment....it's been five weeks since she's been able to walk!  What an answer to prayer.  One of my specific prayers for her is that her heart would be encouraged and she'd feel hope.  THAT is exactly what I heard in her voice today...so thankful!!!

GREAT NEWS!  I received word on Tuesday that my CPK is down to 269!!!!!!  YES...2.6.9!!!  TWO HUNDRED SIXTY NINE!!! We are so excited it continues to come down! (remember, just five months ago it was in the 8300 range....uggh!).  Also, remember that this number and how I'm feeling hasn't always correlated exactly, but this time I think they go hand in hand.  I told a friend last night if I were a betting gal when my doctor tested my CPK a couple of weeks ago that it would probably be lower.  I AM feeling better.  I AM getting stronger.  I AM so thankful!!!! I've decreased my steroid this week as well, and so far I'm doing fine. This particular dosage has always been been "sticking point" and have always tanked a bit so I'm praying that my body will adjust quickly and handle the change of the steroid dosage so I CAN GET OFF THIS STUFF!!!!!!  Sleep continues to be an issue, but I'm going to try a new Rx as soon as David comes home from his trip.  I don't like changing up meds when he's gone.  SO.....you better hurry home, baby!  SLEEP =  Feeling much better!! SLEEP= I can function!!! SLEEP=Happy momma!!!

One more quick thing.  I've had a few people ask me if we know what the infection is, and if we know how I got this illness.  Well. we don't know how I got sick, and we don't exactly the source of it all.  We do know that it's most likely been "brewing" in my body for quite some time.  We do know that I have infection (and this has been somewhat controversial with a couple of doctors, but let's just say..."The proof is in the pudding!"- my white blood cell count, neutrophyls, mycoplasma and many more things are high which indicate infection).  Basically, there are two schools of thought: 1. Doctors who believe that auto-immune disorders and rheumatical diseases are infection based (here are two websites that have been instrumental in educating us: Rheumatic.org and The Roadback Foundation) AND  2. Doctors who don't believe that.  David and I are in "camp 1" based on our own research, how I've responded to antibiotics, etc.  I do NOT discount any of the doctors treatments in the last 1  1/2 years because each of them have had a vital role in getting me where I am today!  David and I do feel that this newest doctor has gotten me further along in the shortest amount of time, too.  We do think there are many factors that have played into my improvement- changes in environment, diet, medication, but most of all answers to our prayers from a very Mighty, Powerful, Loving and Gracious Physician.  We give God ALL the credit.  He has placed us on a path of healing- a strange one at that I must say, but we know and see how He's orchestrated our steps.  If you or someone you know struggles with a "auto-immune" disease or arthritis, it's worth your time to browse the two above websites in my opinion.  I hope that clears up some questions...David's much better at explaining it than I!  I've got a long way to go, but I've COME a long way, baby!!!!

note to self:  don't give AA ice cream, cookies and sprite in the same day....again!!!  I'll let you read between the lines ;-)

Walking on water!

David, the girls and I were fortunate to return back home this week to see my parents and my grandmother who is very ill.  I wasn't sure if it would work out since it was a holiday week, but it did! It was a mini reunion for me because we got to see two sets of aunts and uncles who were in town, too!

My precious grandmother "Nini" with the girls.  There's about a 86 year gap between oldest and youngest!  She's a special lady to me (all of us!).  We love you, Nini, and are praying for you!

Okay, remember this post?  I know I took this picture about six weeks ago, BUT I didn't have my wedding ring on....SO, I had to take it again.  I know I'm goofy, but I just love this picture.  It represents a lot of things, a lot of years, and four generations!

My hunky monkey tearing up the lake!

Glamour girls!

A patient daddy teaching the Abster to water ski for the first time.

Here she goes...

And...she's walking on water!

A good sign that she had a blast!  Way to go, Abigail!!!!

Time for sweet Xiaoli to have some fun!

Driving the boat with Papa D

Audrey An, you have no idea how many times I've felt the same way...lol!

Not a care in the world...

late night Boggle game with Nana

 

We had a GREAT time this weekend.  I hadn't been on the lake back home in  years and it felt oh-so- wonderful to be out there even though I personally couldn't ski this year and I was wrapped up in a hat, sunglasses and long sleeve shirt plus sitting under the boat shade with sunsscreen SPF 45!  To see my girls having a blast on the lake like I did growing up and getting to experience skiing, tubing and swiming at the lake meant the world to me (and David!).  Surely, I got  a little bit of "vitamin d therapy" ;-)  Thanks, mom and dad, for taking us.  I know you both were exhausted from being out of town right up until you picked us up at the airport.  It was worth it, right!?!  Love you!

Okay, signing off....that flight this morning came a bit too early for my taste!

Red, White, and Pink???

My two little "Americanas" baking away again!

The finished product....didn't they do good!

Okay, so our "red" was a tad "pink".- oh well! I am so thankful we're celebrating America today.  We went to our church's "Freedom" concert Sunday night, and I had such a different perspective and appreciation of the privilege of all the freedoms I've enjoyed over the years- not only in America but in Christ!  Being home for just three months now from living overseas makes you appreciate a LOT of things.

I'm going for supermom (HAHAHA!): TWO "crafty/bakey" things in ONE DAY for me...WHOOOOA!  I'm turning into my best friend ;-)

  These magnets the girls made today turned out super cute!  Yep, don't know how to flip my picture when I take it upside down on my ipad- another, "oh well".

Audrey An surprised me tonight!  She taught herself to tie her (well, my!) shoe.  You go, girl  CHECK CHECK CHECK off that item off the "to learn" list this summer.  super yay.  I guess she's into the shoe them this weekend because last night during our devotional about heaven she said, "Mommy, I think Jesus will wear super cool brown slippers in heaven."  She also stated very matter of factly that she was SO excited she wouldn't have to take a bath in heaven!  Well, alrighty then.   I love how little minds think!

I did have my doctor appointment last Friday and get my test results from 2 1/2 weeks ago.  I just simply haven't taken the time to enter blogger world since I'm not getting any sleep....arrgh!  This is some of what I learned:
CPK (we actually had a little mix up on this test 2 1/2 weeks ago, and she didn't order the CPK test so we did one this past Friday and I'm still waiting to hear results), no lymes disease, no rocky mountain fever, low thyroid, low Adrenals, low magnesium, low vitamin k, low vitamin d (amazing since the rheumatologist has me on a very high dose! My body isn't absorbing it though abvioiusly), cholesterol is great, messed up digestive track, high platelets, high white blood count and high neutrophils and high mycoplasma (means major bacterial infection), and some other "stuff".  My body isn't absorbing some meds and vitamins and infection and inflammation definitely like hanging out with me ;-)  So, as you can see I just a healthy gal- HA! 

She said the reason I crashed the two days after IVs (and there were FIVE of them) because of my body flushing out tons of toxins. She said I probably wouldn't feel that this time (yes, there were FIVE infusions last Friday)- which I haven't.  My neck fatigue is from infection -says it's a common place for it to "hang out"....hmmmm.  I truly am grateful for improvement, but I really look like I could open my own pharmacy with all the prescriptions, vitamins, powders, and the latest...a once a week Vitamin b/amino acid injection I now give myself.  NOW...if I could just get one of those little lovelies to help me SLEEP!!!!

I also asked her about Abigail's high white blood cell count (her pediatrician said tests were normal when we moved home and I took both girls in for check ups-but her labs indicate a high white blood cell count. So how is that "normal"??) and she she that's not normal especially in child.  So I made her a consult appointment in August, too!

These results were probably more than most wanted to know, but a few have asked what I found out...

Happy little girls!

Last week Abigail participated in volleyball camp at her new school.  She had a great week, learned new skills, met new friends, and came home a "happy camper"!  Oh, but that first day when I dropped her off my heart sunk...literally.  Abigail's main prayer request has been that she make new friends at her new school.  It just about killed me to leave her after seeing her climb up into those bleacher stands with her posture sinking just a bit (no, it sank a bunch!)....uggh.  I couldn't stand it!  AA and I hung out for just a minute (tried to be inconspicious!) to see if her sad face would turn into a happy face.  Well, I casually walked over to her to give her an extra nudge of encouragement, but I knew she didn't want her "not-so-cool-mom" to be hangin' around...  SO, I left....like a good little momma ;-)

Since it wasn't too cool for me to bring the honkin' camera to camp (oh, little does she know I will HAVE to get pics during a regular season though!) I had to have her pose in our backyard.

Crazy hair day at volleyball camp.  SO proud of her and one of her new friends, Emily, for not being "too cool" to participate!  I do love that about Abs!!

 I prayed for my baby big girl ALL morning of that first day of camp.  I could NOT get her off my mind.  I just asked the Lord to send her a new friend and to help Abigail be strong and courageous in her new setting.  I prayed that when I picked her up she'd have a smile on her face then I would know all was okay.  Well, of course, God delivered, and she was all grins at pick up time.  THANK YOU!!!  Tuesday was a different story- not bad, just a different prayer ;-)  Unfortunately (or fortunately in some ways) , she's inherited he momma's perfectionistic ways.  She was down trodden with "I'm not good at this, and EVERYbody is better at volleyball than I am."....uggh.  Well, our prayers were concentrated in a different way the remaining of the week.  God was gracious and allowed her work through some of those feeling (not easy), have some ups and have some downs, and even score some points.  Life lessons are being learned, and my baby big girl is growing up!!!

  

This week, little miss energizer bunny attended cheer camp.  WOW...how thrilling to see our little flower bud continue to blossom.  In some ways, I just could not stop laughing (to myself, of course!) today as we watched them show off what they learned this week because they was such a difference in ability levels in the older and, ummmm, Audrey An.  She was just beaming though!  She just doesn't know how to NOT have a good time.  It was particulary great for me to see this today because I've wanted to pinch her little head off the past couple of weeks (Gasp!!!!  did I just admit that to blogger world!?!?)...if you know what I mean.  Okay, yes, yes, I did.  I'm a normal mom!!!  More on that later....well, maybe ;-)

Audrey An going for a jump!

Proud momma!

Sweet friends, sisters Amelia and Emily, who AA was attached to at the hip for all of camp...or least today with what I saw! 

Miss Reagan....her patient cheer camp coach for the week!  GOOOOO, BLUE!

Even though the girls are having a fantastic summer we sure are missing family vacation with my family this week.  I'm so bummed we're not at the the beach with mom, dad and my sister's family, but I thought it best not to push this week since a just started with another new doctor and new meds.

So...occupied our time trying not to think about the surf and sand.  We made pizza cupcakes (thanks, pinterest!).

The girls love to cook!

Abs taught herself to sew (well, her DADDY helped a lot, too!). 

We  have David's mom's very nice sewing machine and my little creative daughter can't get enough of this kind of stuff!  Thank goodness pinterest has inspired me a bit more to try some more recipes and get my creative juices a flowing.  We've really had fun cooking and trying out new things since we've been home!

Okay, seriously, is there not anything my man can't do???  He SO puts me to shame!  Once he figured out all the buttons and switches he just whipped himself up a little pillow for the girls' dolls.  Hello!?!?! You da man!!

Medical update:  Since my first appointment two weeks ago with my newest doctor I've felt some stronger.  I've had a couple of nights of better sleep which is just HUGE to me!  It's still very much an issue, but I'll take good sleep here and there!  Tomorrow (Friday) I go for another appointment with her, and I cannot wait to get all the test results back.  I'm reeeeeaaaaallllly curious to see what all THIS testing says.  She tested CPK, mycoplasma, and my hormone levels.  She ran a HDL panel, tested for food allergies, Lymes Disease, Rocky Mountain Fever (or something like that), and much more....can't even remember!  I'm VERY thankful I'm seeing some improvement.  Progress is slow, but it's in the smallest things I'm noticing.  I noticed I could wring out my washcloth this week!  I noticed it was a tad easier heaving myself out of the bathtub this week!  I had couple of "long" days of errand running without totally having to run for my bed when I got home!  Now, I hope my appointment tomorrow isn't 5 1/2 hours again, BUT I'll take it if continues to help me!!!!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Dad's Day and an infusion

Happy Father's Day...thanks for being a great dad!  My three favorite memories with my dad are him taking our family out on the boat, looking up in the stands during one of my track practices and seeing him taking the time to watch his little girl round those corners, and him teaching me how to triple jump.  Love you, dad!

David, thanks for being an awesome daddy!  Your girls adore you, and I'm so thankful that you are always looking for fun things to do with them...making memories!  They  love spending time with you (as do I!).

Two weeks Super Daddy planted a garden with the girls- something he'd been planning for quite awhile.  He loaded up the girls in the car and off they went to pick out some veggies and flowers to plant.  It was a great project for daddy and his girls!

The girls are already seeing results from their tomato plant...very cool!

All planted!  tomatoes, sweet basil, cilantro, watermelon...yummy!  The girls are learning to take responsibility with "their garden"...fabulous!

Then...they built a birdhouse!  It wasn't good enough to buy a ready-made one, Super Daddy had to build it from scratch, BUT the girls didn't mind.  They LOVE doing projects with their daddy!

He SO puts me to shame!  (I did buy the paints though...lol!)

We're not able to be with David today due to his flying schedule...fooey!  The girls and I hid little surprises in his suitcase so he'd find throughout his trip this weekend.  We hope you're having a great day...we love you!  Hurry home ;-)

Two more special daddies to mention on this special day:  Audrey An's birth father (who we'll never know ) and her foster dad.  The above picture are her foster parents and foster brother (Audrey An is on the right with the Mickey Mouse shirt).

I know I've posted photo before, but I THIS is a very cool picture...adoptive daddy meets foster daddy!  So surreal and such a very special moment in our lives.  This was taken several months ago.  Just like Mother's Day, Father's Day has different meaning to me since Audrey An joined our family.  I praise God for all these special men in her life and see HIS story being played out in her life.

Medical update:  I had my appointment last Wednesday with another new doctor.  David was able to go with me, and I was so thankful the girls were in vacation bible school and sports camp this week because we were there for 5 1/2 hours!  It was a great appointment though,  and I was so thank for my sweet friend, Gina, who recommended her and helped me get an appointment.  After a quick exam and review of my last lab results from the rheumatologist, she basically said my body is riddled in infection (that's what David and I have been saying for over a year now!).  Looooong story short, I had several vials of blood taken, and I spent almost 2 1/2 h ours in the "infusion room".  I had never been to a doctor's office like this.  The infusion room reminded me of when I've seen picture of friends who are going through chemo treatments and they're lined up with the IV poles.  That was me on Wednesday!  I have to say I didn't feel any improvement until Saturday (but, hey....that's not too long of a wait!).  I had a GREAT day yesterday! It's amazing what some sleep will do for me.  WOW...I haven't been able to write that in a very long time.  I just cried with the girls in the car yesterday because I was (am) SO thankful for a good day!!!  We ran several errands with out me giving out.  I did laundry without giving out.  I even took the girls swimming at a friend's house after all of that.   I had more strength....it was just a good day! Although Friday night I had about 7  hours of sleep cumulatively and it helped SO much, I was back to 3 hours last night....uggh!  Keep praying for NO INSOMINA.  Slept deprivation just makes me whack!!!!

I follow up with this new doc in two more weeks and will get all the lab results then (hoping sooner!).  Again, thank you to all who continue to pray for my healing and wisdom for doctors.  I feel like I'm this gigantic jigsaw puzzle, and I might have at least the corner pieces put together now.

The other thing I'm thankful in regards to David today is that he's had to remind me over the past few weeks that I AM making progress.  For me, it's so slow I can't see it sometimes.  The night before this last appointment I was discouraged and just sick and tired of being sick and tired, ya know!?  He reminded me that just a few short months ago I could barely get out of bed, wasn't able to drive my car and just a few short WEEKS ago he was still having to get me out of the bathtub. I'm able to maneuver the tub now, and I even started walking (for exercise) just a tiny, tiny bit a few times a week.  Thanks for being my cheerleader, David.  not only are you a great daddy, you are a wonderful husband!  I love you!