Happy Birthday, Everly Mei

Did you know.... The number four is omitted in some Chinese buildings. Number 4 (四; accounting 肆; pinyin sì) is considered an unlucky number in Chinese because it is nearly homophonous to the word "death" (死 pinyin sǐ).

I am the warrior for the Hnilo family and today is their sweet daughters FOURTH birthday! Let's show her what a great number FOUR can be! Will you donate a dollar for each year she has been waiting for her family? Just four bucks. You won't miss it much, but it will be a great encouragement to her family as they work to expedite her adoption. A little bit can go a long way if we all work together.

 You can donate (tax deductible) here. http://reecesrainbow.org/112798/sponsorhnilo  or in the donate box on the right side border of this page. Thanks friends, and Happy Birthday, Everly Mei!

New page on the blog

You may have noticed a NEW PAGE that appeared on the blog about the time of the "remodel."  Instead of advocating for a specific child this Christmas season (I was Sonnet's aka Susy's advocate last year) I am a "warrior" for a special family working hard to get their daughter home via a medical expedite.  The whole scenario makes me think of my experience with our sweet Sonnet.

You may also notice their donation box in the right side border of the blog.  All donations to them through this link with Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible.

You'll find more details about their little Everly Mei and news of their first fundraiser that actually ENDS on Sunday, October 16 at 8pm EST, so hurry!

Family Warrior for the Hnilo Family

Blog revisions - remodeling!

Often adoptive parents ask for information about hotels or attractions in specific provinces.  Some are just curious what the office looks like where they will meet their child or some other detail.  Realizing that our four trips are scattered all over the blog I am attempting to gather the travel information about each adoption and post it along with the child's adoption timeline - yet another detail many adoptive parents study. 

During this process you will see the tabs above change from merely listing the name of the child and TIMELINE to the name, year, and province.  Hang in there while I do some remodeling.  I hope this will be helpful to those still in process.

Sonnet has a Secret!

You can't tell just by looking at her...

but Sonnet has a secret! 

We've discovered SpecialWundies!  I've never done a "commercial" on the blog before, but here it is.  And my disclaimer is that I have received NO COMPENSATION from the company in return for it.  This is my "I purchased the product and LOVED IT" commercial.

These are onesies for the older child!

I am so crazy about these things!

They were created by parents of a special needs child.  In their case their son was fed by a G-Tube and needed a onesie to help prevent him from pulling out his tube, and also to stand up to the heavy use by an older child with therapies and medical procedures.  All they could find to fit an older child fell apart after a few uses, was always out of stock when they needed to reorder, or were too expensive.  They decided they would have to manufacture what they needed themselves, and I'm so glad they did!  It took them two years of field testing, but SpecialWundies are available to us all now.

These are so perfect for Sonnet!  Like many children with cerebral palsy, she does an army crawl.  Her clothes just don't stand a chance at staying put.  Can we say "BRRRRRR, COLD TUMMY" when she reaches the ceramic tile floor?

  And like many children with the history of an orphanage background, she has sensory issues.  The onesie keeps her fingers out of her diaper!  Yessssssss!

SpecialWundies are made from a very soft 100% cotton, and seem to be made to last.  We don't ever want to be without one, and sometimes we go through more than one a day.  So we've orderedthree times now.  We currently have eight of these so there is always a clean one available!  They start in a size 2T and go all the way up to a size 16 (that is up to 120 pounds!)


You can find out more about the Wundies and the company's satisfaction guarantee on THEIR WEBSITE.    Sonnet says to HURRY! 

Certificate of Citizenship - check!

One of the last pieces of paperwork that adoptive parents wait and wait for is the Certificate of Citizenship.  So happy that it arrived today and also that all the information is correct.  (If you've been with me for awhile you may remember that Isaac's name was misspelled, and we waited an ENTIRE YEAR for his corrected document.)  Now that it has arrived we can move on to changing Sonnet's name on her social security number, readopting in the States.... it just goes on, doesn't it?  (smile)

We're still here!

My apologies (for the lack of posts) to those who continue to hold our family up in prayer and are interested in how we are doing.  I've been pretty much in "survival mode" for the past month.  Our Little Miss came to us with multiple medical needs, and it has proven difficult to sort them all out and get her the help she needs.

Within the first couple of weeks Sonnet saw her pediatrician and her doctor at the International Adoption Clinic which triggered other appointments with specialists. She also began Speech, Occupational and Physical therapies which she goes to each week.  They are attempting to help us obtain an appropriate feeding chair and also a stander with wheels so she can have some independent movement about the house.

Sonnet had dental work done under general anesthesia at a surgery center because of the extensive amount of work she needed.  She had seven teeth pulled, six caps and a few fillings.  Poor little dear is having to learn how to chew all over again since she somehow USED the little black nubs while eating.

Because our much loved pediatric dentist is in another state, Sonnet and I "got" to spend a couple of nights in a hotel near the surgical center.  It really wasn't fun, and I'm so glad to have that particular need behind us.

Another biggie was trying to get a diagnosis of the seizures she has been having.  A regular EEG and a brain MRI didn't give us any answers so we ended up with an in hospital stay hooked up to wires and under constant video.

This obviously wasn't something Sonnet enjoyed either!  Following that L-O-N-G test she was put on a medicine to control the seizures, but it ended up actually CAUSING seizures.  We are now in the process of weaning her off that medication and beginning a different one.

And in just a couple of days she will see the Cerebral Palsy specialist.  Whew!

Much of the last couple of weeks have been spent holding, rocking, and wearing our previously happy child who has been replaced with one who looks like the photo above much of the time.  Yes, I do believe it is caused by the medication and we are seeing some improvement with the weaning off of it.  I do miss my happy, smiling girl more than I can say though.   Please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Jen's Fancy Casts

New to us this summer was serial casting. Jen's muscles are super tight and her therapists are hoping to get a lasting stretch this way. We've spent all month going in to have another stretch and casts applied.

Her favorite color is yellow, but the therapist didn't have enough yellow to do the entire thing, so she compromised with purple casts and yellow stripes.

 

 

We're on the final set now and I'm beginning to notice a marked improvement in her walking.  Really hoping this is just the thing she's needed!