"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance.The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." -Chinese proverb

Friday, August 23, 2013

Summer's end

Well, we're reaching the end of our summer as Ella starts school next Tuesday.  Summer always goes too fast but I will be happy when fall weather comes.  Of course, living in Texas, fall temperatures might not come until November...or later.  I clearly remember wearing shorts while shopping for Christmas last December.  Ugh.  Anyways, this summer has been busy, busy, busy and now that school is starting, there's no slowing down now! All of the kids took swim classes this year.  Ella is an amazing swimmer and is thinking about joining the neighborhood swim team next year.  Ethan did so good that he almost got to skip level 2 and go straight to level 3 next time!  He can swim all the way across the pool!  The only thing holding him back is that he hates floating on his back.  Liana and I did a Mommy and Me swim class and she loved it and did so well!  Liana is just a natural in the water, just like her brother and sister.  She was really ready for a class sans Mommy but we'll look forward to that next summer.  She also just started dance class a few weeks ago.  She was so excited for her second class that she squealed when I told her it was time to get ready!  I was glad to know that she loved it so much!  So now with Liana in dance, Ella back in school and dance and Ethan beginning soccer (that Erik is coaching!), we're just maintaining the craziness of, well...our family. :-)

Now, onto a more serious subject.  If you've read our blog from the beginning, you know that Liana's main "special need" was that she had surgery for an esophageal hiatus hernia as a newborn.  She has had no issues with this since we adopted her until recently.  We started noticing her gagging when she eats and the last few days, even throwing her food back up in her mouth.  This last week, Ethan came down with bronchitis, Erik has had terrible tonsillitis and Liana started getting sick a couple of days ago.  She's had the usual runny nose and a fever but I decided to bring her to the doctor because her fever was getting pretty high and she has been gagging on her food a lot lately and really not able to eat much.  This made me nervous.  The doctor sent us to get an x-ray to make sure she didn't swallow something random that ended up getting lodged somewhere.  I asked her if anything about her hernia repair would show up on the x-ray and she basically told me that it wouldn't unless it was pretty bad.  Turns out it showed up on the x-ray so I made an appointment to see a gastrointestinal specialist next week.  She also appears to have pneumonia, probably from aspiration of the food that she has been gagging on and from reflux.  So I don't really know what will happen at the appointment next week but I hope that we can get this fixed soon because it's getting pretty bad.  It all happened so quickly.  We always knew that this was a possibility but she has just had zero problems until just very recently, I think we thought it would never really happen.  I guess she'll be having a lot of applesauce, yogurt and soup until they are able to fix this.

I'm sad about the idea that she will probably need surgery.  I know it will all be fine but she's such a little bitty thing and can be so sensitive.  However, she can also be very tough and I have always been amazed at her inner strength with all of the changes that she has handled so amazingly well in the last year.  When I think about her going through that surgery as a newborn baby, with no mommy to take care of her...well, it has always broken my heart.  At least if she goes through it all again, she won't be alone.  She will have a Mommy and Daddy to be with her every second that we can be and a big sister and a big brother to love on her too. 

Flying through a waterfall (with help from Daddy)


 

 
Little charmer waiting for swim lessons to start




 
The blonde duo making trouble at the pool

 
Ethan being simply adorable
 
 At our first Families with Children from China (FCC) event!

 
Ella went through a summer phase of wanting them to dress alike every day


 
Liana's first dance class!

 
At Lowe's Build and Grow, building airplanes
 
 Bubble pool!

 


 
At the Greatest Show on Earth!!!

 
Second tooth gone!
 
Does this look like a girl with pneumonia and an esophageal hernia?!  Tough cookie!