2 New Video Clips!

2 new video clips have been added. They are both of her watching the "fairy godmother song" in Shrek 2. Enjoy!

Ellie's 2nd Birthday!!

Thursday, April 10th, Ellie turned 2 years old!!!! We celebrated with a small party that our dear friends Ilir and Kate attended. Vicki made a wonderful dinner of beefteki, rice, broccoli casserole, garlic-cheese bread, salad (Kate made the salad), and chocolate truffle cheesecake with butterscotch topping (YUMMMMMMY). Ellie had oatmeal and baby food (meat & veggies).

Ellie continues to bring us all much joy and love!! She is God's gracious gift to us! She continues to make slow, incremental, and certain physical progress. Beginning next month, she will add another session each week for occupational therapy (which will make 2 sessions a week for occupational therapy and 2 sessions a week for physical therapy OUTSIDE the home). We do exercises at home about 90-120 minutes of scheduled focused time each day, and then other spontaneous time while holding her or playing with her.

3 Brief Comments...

3 noteworthy updates about Ellie in the last week or so...

1. Her sleeping habits have become really goofed! She'll be dead tired and start falling asleep in your arms or while eating, but as soon as you put her in her bed, she jerks awake and seems quite alert (sometimes happy, sometimes not). She can lie there for hours--cooing, baby talking, laughing, crying, screaming--NOT sleeping. If you leave her alone, she gets more tired working herself into a lather. If you pick her up and try to rock her to sleep or out her pacifier back in her mouth, she might start to fall asleep but as soon as you put her in bed (even after she falls into a deep snoring sleep) she wakes up. This is all daytime sleeping.

Nights are varied. Some are good and some are not.

2. The other day while we were playing/exercising with Ellie on the floor, our dog Popcorn came over and laid beside her (as she frequently does); but for the first time ever, Ellie reached her arm out to the dog and began moving her hand back and forth over Popcorn's body!

3. While in the supermarket this week, we put her in the little "seat" of the shopping cart. Previously, she would never sit still enough or balanced enough to keep her in there more than a few seconds. This time we put her little hands on the things in front of her, held them down with our hands over hers, and she stayed seated and balanced the WHOLE TIME! This may seem a small thing to some, but it really is an encouraging sign of progress!

Ellie's First Emergency Room Trip Was A Gas!

At various times on Saturday Ellie was trying to have a bowel movement, with no success. We put her to bed about 9:30 PM. At 11 PM she began screaming and crying very loudly. She had filled her diapers with a very large and solid deposit, and she had vomited all over her bed and herself. After bathing her, changing the sheets, and rocking her to sleep, we put her back to bed. At about 1:15 AM, she began crying again (mostly in her sleep) but she seemed to be in much pain, especially if you touched her in the stomach area. We had never seen her like this (nor any of our other kids--except for William when he was 8 and had appendicitis), so we were a bit concerned!


After almost an hour of this, we called our pediatrician who finally suggested it would be best to take her to the hospital to make sure nothing serious was wrong.


As we got ready to go to the hospital she began to quiet down. When we put her in the car she woke up and seemed wide awake and quite content all the way there. When we arrived and waited for the doctor, she passed a bit of gas and seemed quite happy. As the doctor began to touch her in examination, she cried quite hard (which is quite normal during doctor visits). Vicki started making her laugh so the doctor could examine her, the doctor gave her a small enema, she immediately deposited a large load, and we were able to leave.


We got home around 4 AM and Ellie got back to sleep around 45 minutes later.


All things considered, we are very grateful that it was nothing more serious, and she has been just fine the last couple of days.

This Month...

February has been an encouraging month in a number of ways, including:

* One of the exercises Ellie needs to do at home requires a 4,000 Euro piece of equipment!! The physical therapy center we take Ellie to loaned us one, without charge!!





















* Both physical therapists who work with Ellie each week are encouraged by her progress in the last 3 months (she even sat by herself for about 10 or 15 seconds this week)!

* Ellie started occupational therapy this month (once a week)

* We saw the neurologist again Wednesday (the first time since November) and she immediately noticed improvement in Ellie's condition. Although she is officially diagnosing her condition as Cerebral Palsy, she emphasized that because it didn't show up on the M.R.I., it is probably a mild case and with good regular physical therapy there is hope (though not a guarantee) of significant improvement.

* We saw the ophthalmologist on Friday and she said that although she will need glasses in about 6 months, her refractive error has become more balanced in both eyes. This is good because she was starting to develop a lazy eye when we first had her, but this condition has improved and will be unlikely now. She would have given Ellie glasses right away but she wants to wait until she develops more head control. Glasses will help her eyes develop much more normally.

Ellie's First Christmas!

ELLIE'S FIRST CHRISTMAS WITH US!!!!!! We waited for so long, and every year would wishfully say, "Maybe next year will be the year she will be with us." Now she is! And what a gift!

She has been going to physical therapy twice a week now for about 5 weeks. We are very pleased with the 2 physical therapists who are working with her. They seem very knowledgable, very patient, very encouraging, and very caring. They won't predict the future but they are optimistic (as are we).

Ellie doesn't like them quite as much as we do. For the first few weeks she cried hard the whole time, every time. The last few times she has cried much less, and the last time she went about 40 minutes before she starting whining and fussing!

We haven't seen any major changes, but we do see minor ones like she is chewing slightly better, her hands open and close more frequently, and on some days she can turn (with enthusiatic coaching) from her stomach to her back by herself.

She is also becoming more content with others holding her (as long as we are nearby), and even happy with some of them!

She continues to be adored by her brothers and sister, and remains well attached to them.

MRI and Neurologist

Two weeks ago, an MRI was done of Ellie's brain. A few days ago, we took those results to the neurologist to interpret for us. Her conclusion was that she was enouraged to NOT see any major brain damage that would indicate permanent problems. She was quick to point out, however, that long-term neurological damage is still possible without showing up on an MRI. However, there is still HOPE for improvement with physical therapy, good nutrition, and love.

She will have her first appointment with a Greek physical therapist this coming Thursday.

At our recent Team Retreat she began to show signs that she was more comfortable with others on our team holding her for extended lengths of time. This was an encouragement to all of us.

The interesting thing is that she SMILES AND LAUGHS FREQUENTLY but whenever we take out the camera, she stops! That's why she looks so serious in all the photos (she had been smiling immediately prior to the pictures being taken). However, whenever we take out the VIDEO camera she STARTS smiling even if she wasn't beforehand.

There are no words to adequately describe the growing and deepening love we all feel for Ellie, and the gratitude in our hearts for this precious gift from God. Thanks to all for your continued prayers.

Almost 6 months!

In 10 days (on November 13th) it will be 6 months since we first held Ellie in our arms!!!! We are all still smitten, and it looks likely that we will be for many decades to come!!!

We were able to get her passport and certificate of citizenship shortly before returning to Athens (thanks, Stephanie!) and she has been twice to the pediatrician, once to the neurologist, and once to get an MRI, and in a few days we will start with a Greek physical therapist here.

There have not been any major changes but there have been minor ones. We will write more when we know more. Thanks for your continued prayers.

More pics--Summer 2007

Top 4 Adoption Myths...

“ADOPTION COSTS TOO MUCH.”


Reality: Depending on the circumstances, the cost of adoption ranges from $0 – $30,000 and assistance is available.


“ISN'T THERE A GREAT CHANCE THAT A CHILD'S BIRTH PARENTS WILL GET A CHILD BACK AFTER THE ADOPTION?”




Reality: In modern U.S. adoption, laws have been established that nearly eliminate this possibility.




“ADOPTED CHILDREN PROBABLY HAVE MANY EMOTIONAL ISSUES I WON'T KNOW HOW TO HANDLE”


Reality: It’s true that some children who have had traumatic experiences may have an increased chance of having emotional and behavioral issues. But the truth is that any child, adopted or biological, may present these types of challenges. And the truth is that there are a lot of resources available to help in such situations.






“I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO LOVE AN ADOPTED CHILD AS I WOULD A BIOLOGICAL CHILD.”


Reality: While many people fear this very thing before adopting, according to research, 95 percent of adoptive parents say they experience a strong attachment to their child.


Excerpt from Hope for Orphans @ www.familylife.com/hopefororphans

5 Week Update

It's hard to believe that Ellie has been with us for 5 weeks! The time has flown and yet it seems as if she has always been a part of our family. She has brought so much love, energy, and joy to our family! She is adored by her siblings as well as her parents, and the grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles have taken a shine to her as well.

She had her first doctor visit this weeek. The pediatrician recommended a physical therapist and opthomologist that we have appointments with next week. Our insurance company will not cover any physical therapy concerning developmental issues, nor will they cover any expenses (the first year) for pre-existing conditions.

Mostly she sleeps through the night, although sometimes very restlessly with lots of noisy sounds (she is sleeping in our room with us).

She is gaining weight, getting new teeth, bonding and attaching well, smiling and laughing more and more, getting better control with her hands, and making us all fall madly in love with her! What a precious, priceless, wonderful, awesome gift from God!

Many thanks to the many friends who have prayed, given, encouraged, waited, and been a part welcoming Ellie into our family. We are so grateful to God for you!

When Love Takes You In Music Video

Last full day in China...

Above are some pics of the area in Guangzhou where we have been staying.

Our adoption facilitator turned in all of our documentation to the U.S. Consulate today. After some confusion and mis-information that caused some anxiety for a while, everything turned out fine. Tomorrow afternoon, Vicki will go in with a group of others to "swear the oath" of U.S. citizenship on Ellie's behalf (I will be on my way back to Greece at that time). Afterward, Vicki, Kendra, and Ellie will fly to Vic's folks in Eugene, OR and then join the boys and me in Mobile, AL (at my folks' house) on June 4th.

Thanks to all who have been praying for us. This trip has been a God-given adventure on many different levels. This summer I hope to add more pics and a little video (and maybe music) to this blog.