Our Journey to Gracie Mei

2008-02-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KALEB!!!

2008-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

KALEB SEEING HIS BIRTHDAY PRESENT FROM US IN THE LIVING ROOM WHEN HE GOT HOME FROM SCHOOL A NEW BIKE!!!
GIVING EVERYONE A PRETEND RIDE
SHARING THE "SKY HIGH MUD PIE" AT RED ROBIN--KALEB'S FAVORITE!
KALEB'S PARTY AT OUR CHURCH WITH FRIENDS--HE REQUESTED ROOT BEER FLOATS IN LIEU OF A CAKE. SUCH AN INDIVIDUALIST-:)

MISC. PICTURES OF GRACIE

2008-02-12T14:30:00.000-08:00

GRACIE LOVES TO SIT IN A BIG CHAIR AT THE TABLE
GRACIE JAMMING OUT WITH KALEB'S CD PLAYER NEW HAT FROM GRANDMA AND SPORTING HER BIG GIRL PANTIES
TRYING ON MOMMY'S ATTIRE
ENJOYING AN UNUSUALLY NICE AFTERNOON OUTSIDE!

GRACIE LOVES SPEGHETTI!!!

2008-02-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

FUN AT OPEN GYM

2008-02-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS PROGRAM PICTURES

2007-12-16T12:39:00.000-08:00

After Chloe's Preschool Program I snapped these pictures just minutes before Gracie debuted proof she had caught the flu from Chloe.
A rare momment these days of Lucas showing his sister brotherly affection!
Sorry it's so blurry--but here's Chloe performing with her preschool classmates.
Again, sorry so blurry---but here is Kaleb performing with all three third grade classes at his school play of Hanzel & Gretel.

EARLY CHRISTMAS IN HAYDEN LAKE

2007-12-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

Scott's Mom & Tim took us and his sister's family to Triple Play for Christmas---it was a blast!!! Thank You Grandma Linda & Tim!! Gracie wasn't too hip on the water at first but after a while she was loving it and had gotten quite brave in going down the toddler water slides (with someone of course!) Daddy, Lucas and Chloe in the indoor/outdoor hot tub which was so nice to warm up in after enjoying the wave pool and slides!
Kaleb and cousin Andrew
Cousins-- Tanner and Tyler
Lucas loved the wave pool!

WINTER FUN

2007-12-16T11:42:00.000-08:00

Kaleb, Chloe & Lucas... this isn't the greatest picture but boy were they having fun playing in the snow!!! We were all dressed up to go to a Church potluck and were going to get a family picture taken for some Christmas cards; However, as we were walking out the door Chloe puked everywhere! The boys still wanted to go so I dropped them off and came back home. I decided to at least get a cute picture of Gracie in front of our half-decorated tree!

MORE THANKSGIVING AND BOISE PICTURES

2007-12-16T11:14:00.000-08:00

Gracie, Grandma Connie and Willie The cousins...top row: Taylor, Lucas, Austin & Kaleb;bottom row: Morgan, Olivia, Chloe, Bailey, Derrick, Emma and Chloe (Drew and Derrick were in Montana).
Ahhh....love... Daddy and Gracie getting ready for a big smooch!! Gracie LOVES her daddy!!!!!!!!
Gracie with my Dad, her Papa Jack. My Grandpa Neal, Papa Jack's Dad, went to Heaven the week before Thanksgiving. This was a picture after the funeral celebrating his life. We love you Grandpa and we'll see you in Heaven!
Lucas, Chloe, Kaleb and Gracie with Grandma on her front porch.

GRACIE'S FIRST THANKSGIVING!!!

2007-12-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

Mommy and her girls at Grandma Connie & Papa Pauls
Gracie being held by her cousin, Taylor, with Chloe and her cousin Emma too. Getting licks of chocolate frosting from Aunt Jackie--Lucas is looking on and waiting for his turn!
Diggin in!! She liked to put the olives on her fingers but once she chewed it up she spit it right back out! I guess she's not a fan of olives but she loved the mashed potatoes and gravy!!!

FUN TIMES AT HOME

2007-12-16T10:23:00.000-08:00

Chloe loves to carry Gracie around--usually Gracie pitches quite a fit about it but she was tolerating it here. Gracie knows where we keep all the diapers and changing supplies--when she needs to be changed she goes right to the cupboard and brings them to me!!! S0, we brought the potty chair in and the training has begun!!!!
Introducing.................Dr. Gracie Rainsberry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She has the blood pressure pump in her mouth and her glasses upside down-----anyone want to make an appointment????
Here she is with some construction goggles on---as you can tell she really likes to play dress-up!
OUR NEW HOME

OUR LITTLE LADYBUG

2007-11-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

HALLOWEEN/HARVEST PICS '07

2007-11-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Gracie is walking like an old pro now even in the pumpkin patch terrain. She is still a climbin' maniac--she almost made it to the top of this hay bale stack and in lighting speed!!! Chloe and Gracie enjoying a snickerdoodle snack at the end of the Pumpkin Patch fieldtrip.
Here is Kaleb in his Chinese costume holding some sort of snake at the church's Harvest Party.
Gracie was a ladybug, Daddy was the Wendy's commercial guy, Chloe was a princess, and Lucas wore his Chinese costume too. Kaleb was MIA for this photo shot.

OCTOBER PICTURES CONT.

2007-11-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here is Lucas' trophy he got at an assembly for the Jog-a-thon--he was on cloud nine!!!! Kaleb & Gracie after Kaleb ran in the Jog-a-thon. He tied for second place out of the three third grade classes but only the first place winners got trophies but he didn't mind.
Here is Gracie's goofy "smile for the camera" pose while we were eating at the China Cafe. October 23rd--here was Gracie on her half year "birthday"--she is 18 months now!!!
She was walking pretty good by her 18 month "birthday" but still "cheating" a little by occassionally balancing with walls or the side of the tub in this case.

OCTOBER '07 PICTURES

2007-11-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

Chloe needed a family picture for preschool so we had a youth girl snap this in the parking lot. We definitely need to get a better one! Gracie loves all the space to play and explore in our house!
This was some of the decoration at our church for our October "Mops" day.
One month exactly from her day of surgery!! This was at the boys' school on the day they had a "Jog-a-thon" (which Lucas tied for first place out of three first grade classes!!)
Yeah, she has pink cheeks & lips now to match her pink sweater!!!

THURSDAY, 11/1/07

2007-11-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

First of all, I CAN NOT BELIEVE that is is November!!!! Anyway, I finally got some pictures posted so I hope you enjoy them. I am still waaayyyy behind but I'm figuring that's just the way it's gonna be for a while. Things are definitely settling down but I think it's probably going to take me quite some time to really feel completely settled in our new house and all. Love you all and hope you're all enjoying the beautiful fall weather!!!

2007-11-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 9/11--Sacred Heart gave Gracie this bear and she loved it!
Monday, 9/10--Sorry this picture is a bit dark--this is Gracie in a contraption to get a chest x-ray. I snapped this shot miliseconds before she totally freaked out!!!!
Gracie had to get a bunch of labs drawn which was horrible but the wagon rides helped a lot!!! Thanks Daddy!
Gracie was balancing really well and taking the most steps on her own that she ever had the day before surgery.

2007-11-01T16:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 9/11-- Gracie dopped up again and the anesthesiologist taking her off to surgery. This was the first time we saw her after surgery. This is her cardiologist, Dr. Hrair Garabedian.

Thursday, 9/13--here is Gracie's surgeon, Dr. Jack Leonard.
She "came to" for a little bit Thursday and shook the balloon around we got her. This is my friend Amy who was visiting us. Thanks Amy and everyone else who visited! This was one of the hardest things we've ever gone through and it meant so much to have all the phone calls, e-mails, cards, and visits from you all!!!

2007-11-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

Friday, 9/14/07- Sleeping soundly all snuggled with her favorite blankie.Friday, 9/14/07- Guzzling her first bottle after surgery and loving it even though it is only very watered down apple juice.
Saturday, 9/15/07--Yeah, she's out of ICU and in an intermediate recovery room!!!
Monday, 9/17/07--A totally different child from yesterday and doing awesome!!! She was soooooooooooooooooooo happy to be home!!! And so was I!!!!!!
Wednesday, 9/19/07--here is her proof of "battle" and it looks a lot better than I had imagined!

2007-11-01T14:57:00.000-07:00

Gracie loves "the ride"as all the big kids call it at Pastor John's house
Gracie also loves to swing!!! This is the airplane swing at Pastor John's house.

Big sister, Chloe, giving Gracie big pushes.

2007-11-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

At the water park in Hermiston
Using the package of t.p. as a stepstool
Oops, sorry it's sideways! This was very early a.m. before her heart cath She is totally loopy here and feelin' good just before the procedure.
Here is the room they wheeled her to for her heart cath. She was so intrigued by everything and of course totally loopy that she didn't even cry when they took her. We were so glad!!

MONDAY, 10/15/07

2007-10-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

AAAggghhhh........what a whirlwind of a month we've had and I'm sorry but I still can't post any pictures! Our "good" laptop died on us and that is where we uploaded all the pictures to last week! We're sure hoping & praying that it just needs a new battery pack! I'm using the keyboard from our broken screen laptop that Scott is running to our PC monitor! Talk about being creative! Anyway, we started moving things into our house on 9/24; only 9 days after we brought Gracie home from the hospital. We are about half unpacked but pretty much completely disorganized and totally frazzled!! We had a scare at Gracie's post-op follow-up...she had a bunch of fluid that had pooled up in the lining of her left lung again. They told us to come back in 5 days and if it wasn't clearing up then we would have to take her back to Spokane for a catheter procedure to drain it again. We prayed hard and asked many of you to pray hard too and God answered our prayers!! When we took her back almost ALL of the fluid was gone!!!! She has another apt. next Wed. and if it's still cleared up then I think she will be taken off the lasix medication. She is doing fabulous!!! She started trying to walk again pretty much as soon as we got her home from the hospital and is now walking more than she is crawling. She has gained another pound since surgery so is now 19 pounds. This is still quite small for her age, 18 months next week, but she is gaining weight much quicker now. Her hair has grown a little but we're considering Rogaine--hee, hee. We realized when we got her home from surgery that she had EIGHT teeth that were breaking through and she never acted fussy at all!!! What a trooper! She has learned to say duh (done) & baa (bye) in addition to her other words and can point to the parts on her face. She totally understands English now and follows directions really well unless she doesn't want to of course. Kaleb, Lucas and Chloe are so good with her and make her laugh all the time. The biggest issue is with Chloe wanting to coddle and baby her and Gracie will have NONE of that!!! She does get quite jealous if we are giving any of them our full attention but they are mostly very patient and foriving of that. She definitely has a stubborn streek like most toddlers but she is a very playful, happy, fun-loving and sweet little angel.

MONDAY, 9/17/07

2007-09-17T21:49:00.000-07:00

Yeah, we're home!!!! Gracie was moved out of Pediatric ICU Saturday afternoon and released to go home yesterday!!! We were both soooooo ready to get home! When they moved her out of ICU to another room she almost completely refused to eat or drink anything and she almost got put back on her IV. So, I was up half the night pushing fluids with her and by Sunday afternoon she was taking them better. Thank goodness! They did chest x-rays, labs, and another echo cardiogram and the doctor said she looked great and was ready to go home. She was still extremely lethargic and not herself but I suspected it was just because she was totally terrified at the hospital. Scott and the rest of the kids drove over and picked us up and she brightened up a bit just seeing them. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept great all night. It didn't take too long after she had her bottle this morning before she was smiling, laughing, crawling, and even climbed up on top of a little step stool!!! I was hovering over her & totally had to slow her down because she was scaring me to death! She was so glad to be home and just kept kissing me all day--it was soooo cute!!! I will try to post some pictures tomorrow but for now I need to get to bed. Thank you again to all of you who have prayed and are still praying for her. We love you all!

SATURAY, 9/15/07; 8:00 AM

2007-09-15T08:06:00.000-07:00

I had quite an emotional day with little Miss Gracie yesterday. The few times Gracie had "come to" over the last few days it was like she didn't even know who I was. Yesterday, anytime I made eye contact with her she would close her eyes which is what she did to me for the first 4 or 5 days after we got her. One of the nurses explained to me that many people who have been on by-pass machine during surgery have said they have memory loss, confusion, and are very disoriented for weeks. They told me not to expect to take home the same child we brought here. She woke up very upset and uncomfortable several times yesterday and it was heart wrenching for me because she didn't seemed comforted by me being there at all. The nurse let me hold her and she didn't like that at all & was very uncomfortable so we basically put her right back in her bed. I went to lay down for a while in the afternoon and all I could do was sob. I miss her---even though I'm here with her and I miss Scott, Kaleb, Lucas and Chloe too. I just want to go home and for things to be "normal". The evening went much better though. When I went back to her room at around 5:30 pm she "came to" and wanted to sit up so I helped her. She just sat there and stared off into space for a few minutes. She seemed like she was getting really tired so I slowly started to lay her back down but she resisted and then put her arms out to me and leaned into my arms!!! Yeah, she wanted me!!! I carefully picked her up and she zonked out and I couldn't stop the tears!!! Hopefully I will see some more glimpses of our sweet little Gracie today.

FRIDAY, 7/14/07; 10:30 AM

2007-09-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

Gracie is doing better each day. They removed her ventilator and stomach draining tube from her mouth at about 4:30 pm yesteray. It has been so good to smooch her little lips again!! I was able to give her a bottle with a few ounces of water w/a little apple juice flavoring this morning and she loved it! She is still super groggy but they stopped the pain meds that were making her so sleepy. So, she should start to wake up a bit more today. They were FINALLY able to remove her two chest tubes that were inserted during surgery and a few other tubes. Yeah!!! She still has her tube inserted into the lining of her lungs and that is still draining quite a bit of fluid so will stay for now. She still has several other tubes and IV's but some of those may also come out today. Still have no clue right now as to when she will be released. I don't really have any hopes for a Sunday release any longer, which is what the "average" recovery time would have been. But the doctors know what is best and we certainly wouldn't want to take her home until she is COMPLETELY ready. Thanks again for your continued prayers!

THURSDAY, 9/13/07; 10:30 AM

2007-09-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

Gracie is still stable but her chest tubes continue to be draining more than normal. She developed fluid around her lungs overnight so they are inserting a catheter right now as I write this to drain it out. I'm not sure what all of this means exactly but I do know that her recovery is taking longer than "normal". Her oxygen levels are excellent though--before surgery they were in the 60's & low 70's and 92 is minumum for "normal" oxygen levels in the bloodstream. Now they are around 98 so that is awesome!!! Her blood pressure is a bit low still. Thank you for continuing to keep her in your prayers!

QUICK UPDATE 9/12/07

2007-09-12T18:22:00.000-07:00

I just discovered a computer in one of the waiting rooms! Gracie's surgery went extremely well yesterday and we are so thankful for all of your prayers you lifted up for her and us. They did a full repair and expect her to be perfectly "normal" after she recovers. They put a patch to close her VSD/hole between her left and right ventricle. It turns out that she didn't have a pulmonary valve stenosis because she didn't have a pulmlonary valve!! All she had was a blob of tissue that was blocking most of her blood from pumping into her pulmonary arteries which then go to her lungs, etc. So, they removed the tissue and said she is fine without the valve. They will keep a watch on it and if at some point they feel she needs a valve then they will put one in through a catheter procedure. The surgeon decided to leave her left pulmonary artery alone (the one that is half the size of her right) because he said that it was functioning perfectly and that it should grow as more blood flows through it. They will also keep a close watch on this and if it does not grow over time then they will enlarge it through a catheter procedure also. She is still sedated but has come to a little bit and is NOT happy!! It is very hard to not be able to hold her!!! They had hoped to be able to remove her chest tubes and breathing tube today but her blood is clotting slower than normal so they didn't get to. Usually children with her condition have surgery between 6-9 months of age but since she is 16 1/2 months then her heart has had to compensate for the abnormalities longer and so the clotting is just slow going. Hopefully they will come out tomorrow!!! Scott headed back home this afternoon and I've had a pretty quiet afternoon. We've had lots of visitors which has been really nice. We've met lots of other families here and it's definitely not a "fun" place to be with all of the sick children and it is really wearing on me. We have taken some pictures but they are pretty graphic so we will post some when she doesn't have so many tubes and is awake. One of our friends here is letting me borrow her cell phone so if you'd like to call the number is 509-279-9954. Love you all!

WE LOVE YOU BABY EZRA!!!!!

2007-09-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

IN LOVING MEMORY OF EZRA LUCAS
JUNE 25-AUGUST 29, 2007

Our very good friends, Abe & Jessica, lost their 2 month old beautiful baby Ezra to SIDS last week. We hope you will join with us in praying for God's comfort & peace to surround them, their other two boys, Malachi & Josiah, and the rest of their family. We love you Abe, Jess, Mal & Tuk!!!

GRACIE'S HEART CATHETERIZATION 8/27/07

2007-08-27T21:38:00.000-07:00

Well, Gracie did amazing and waaaay better than we could have hoped for! Apparently, very often children who have Tetralogy of Fallot have their left or right pulmonary arteries that are not connected to the main pulmonary artery but thankfully hers are. This is good! It turns out her left pulmonary artery is half the size of her right one though and this is definitely not good. They will repair it during her open heart surgery. They will do this by cutting part of it straight down the middle and then put a patch over it to enlarge it. As more blood flows through it then it should continue to grow over time. The doctor did say that they will monitor it very closely after surgery and that almost definitely it will need more procedures and/or medication to treat it. We don't understand this completely and will need to ask more questions for clarity. We were definitely "sidetracked" by the repair the doctor ended up doing that none of us knew would need done. The doctor came out of the operating room to request our permission to carterize (by implanting a tiny coil) in a blood vessel that had enlarged. It had enlarged due to trying to compensate for her pulmonary arteries not pumping the amount of blood to the lungs that it should be. We are still unsure whether they will be able to do all the repairs during her surgery in a few weeks but we are hoping to get a call tomorrow. We will try to post some pictures from today soon but I need to get to bed since I have to get up early in the morn to take the boys to their first day of school. Thank you for all your prayers.

CRAZY CLIMBER!!!

2007-08-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

2007-08-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

CHASING OUR CAT MOSES
WALKING GREAT WITH THE SHOPPING CART
YEAH!! GRACIE LOVES BOOKS!!!
SISTERS HAVING FUN IN THE BATH!
HER NEW "POSING FOR THE CAMERA" FACE!!!!

2007-08-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

GRACIE & DADDY AT HER DEDICATION
GRACIE WITH PASTOR JERRY

AUNT MICHELLE, GMA LINDA, G & G MEYER, MOMMY & GRACIE, COUSIN ANDREW, DADDY, LUCAS, CHLOE, KALEB (AND UNCLE BRIAN TAKING THE PICTURE)
FLYING WITH DADDY

2007-08-26T12:43:00.000-07:00

BABY BURRITO!!! THIS IS WORKING GREAT & WE'RE ALL GETTING MUCH MORE & BETTER SLEEP!!!

THE KIDS LOVED RIDING ON PASTOR JOHN'S 4-WHEELER!!! FIRST SUCKER FROM GRANDMA LINDA!!
SNUGGLING UP WITH AUNT MICHELLE
MEETING GREAT GRANDMA & GRANDPA MEYER

LAST DAYS OF SUMMER

2007-08-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

We have had a very busy last few weeks of summer! Scott went to Spokane 8/9-8/11 for a Leadership Conference so I had my hands full with holding down the fort here. I did brave taking all four of them to my first YaYa Mommyhood gathering while he was gone (this is a group of families in the Tri-cities area that have all adopted from China). We had a really good time and it was so nice to finally meet many people I've talked to online for months! The next weekend we headed to Spokane together to introduce Gracie to all our family and friends there. My friend Jessica organized a big get together for us Thursday night, we spent all day Friday at Silverwood Theme Park with our friends Aaron & Kelli and their 4 kiddos, had a picnic with Scott's family Sat. afternoon, had dinner with the Buckleys Sat. night, and then headed back to Kennewick that night. It was a 3-day whirlwind but we had a great time! This past week I got the boys officially registered at school & they got to meet their teachers. We found out Chloe got a spot at the Montessori Preschool we were hoping for! Yahoo! Gracie had her first Pediatrician apt. & got 3 shots--she was not happy about that but she did get a sucker so then she was good!! We enjoyed spending the day on Friday at a local Aquatic Park with our Pastor, Jerry, and one of his son's, Remi. I've tried to squeeze in some "catching-up" and trying to get somewhat organized for school to start. Our house is coming right along. The interior got painted and the cabinets installed this past week. I'm planning to get a head start on packing this next week while the boys are in school. Well, just wanted to write a quick update and post some pictures before we head out in a few hours back to Spokane for Gracie's heart cath procedure she is having done in the morning.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SISTER!!!

2007-08-20T07:54:00.000-07:00

Gracie lovin' the whip cream Scott shot in her mouth!!!
HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY PRINCESS, BIG SISTER CHLOE LINN!!!

GRACIE LOVES TO SWING!!!!

2007-08-20T07:49:00.000-07:00

LOVIN' THE WATER!!!

2007-08-20T07:41:00.001-07:00

CRAWLIN' LIKE A PRO!!!

2007-08-20T07:25:00.000-07:00

HELPIN' MAMMA DO THE DISHES!!!

2007-08-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

GRACIE LOVES APPLES!!!

2007-08-20T07:11:00.000-07:00

I got several pictures of Gracie climbing all over Lucas and he was cracking up!!! Then I realized what she was after--his apple!!!

SUMMER FUN & TRYING TO SETTLE IN!!!!!

2007-08-20T06:27:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have EVER been so ready for school to start!!! Between setting up doctors appointments for all the kids, Gracie's heart cath & surgery appts, working to get Gracie added to insurance (which she finally did last week--PRAISE GOD!!!), researching what lender & insurance co. to go with, dealing with building problems (which I think are squared away!!!), registering the boys for school, looking for a preschool for Chloe, ...blah, blah, blah. And with four kids who want & need my attention this has really been a challenge to say the least! Not to mention all the daily house hold things that need done-which have been highly neglected! But--we have found some time to go to a few parks and have some fun family time. Our apartment pool has been a life saver too! Several times, I have put Gracie in the stroller at her morning nap time, park her in the shade, and then the rest of us frolic in the pool while she naps. When she wakes up she gets in too and absolutely loves the water!! We thought she would be walking by now especially since on a Saturday a few weeks ago she was taking up to 10 steps on her own. But no--she will not do it again!! We think it may be a power control thing for her because we know she can do it but we aren't pushing it. She will walk when she is good and ready. She does however climb on anything and everything she possibly can and has taken a few headers because of it! But it has not slowed her down!! She is quite a handful and like her paperwork said "can be obstinate at times"!! But she is a total joy and loves to make us laugh!! Kaleb, Lucas and Chloe just can't get enough of her!! She will make funny noises and Chloe will say teasingly "Is that your China cry??!!!" She uses the signs we taught her very well and she seems to totally understand exactly what we are talking about. She is really a very bright and intelligent little girl and we've had several people comment on that including the cardiologist. She totally responds to Gracie now but we still call her Mei, Mei occassionally. I have finally got her into a good napping & bedtime routine--about an hour to an hour and a half morning nap, the same in an afternoon nap, bedtime at around 8 or 8:30 and then she wakes up anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30 am. She starts out in her portable crib at bedtime but inevitably she ends up in bed with us. Co-sleeping is what we wanted with her to help with the bonding process but we didn't bank on a baby who LITERALLY tosses, turns, flips, flops, sits-up, climbs all over our heads, fusses, etc, etc!! None of us have been getting any kind of restful sleep. We swaddled all three of our other children and so I finally decided to give that a try last night. It is suppose to make them feel more safe and secure--like they're in the womb. Of course a little receiving blanket wasn't going to work on an almost 16 month old so we swaddled her like a burrito in a queen size sheet. She slept ALL NIGHT in her crib and we never heard a single peep out of her!!! I am soooooo hoping this was not a fluke and that we found the breakthrough resolution to our sleeping problems!!! I woke up at 5:45 am totally rested since I hadn't been wrestling with her all night!! I will try to post some more pictues in a few days---goodness knows I have plenty!!!!

GRACIE'S FIRST SUNDAY AT CHURCH

2007-08-10T00:09:00.000-07:00

Of course, there was much ooooing and ahhhing over her which was fun! She loved the music and seemed right at home! I did end up taking her to the "cry room" because she was being quite restless and needed to crawl and move around. This is where we have been each Sunday since and I'm sure for many Sundays to come! But it's a nice room and I can still hear the sermon so it works great for both of us!

KALEB & GRACIE AT THE AIRPORT

2007-08-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

GRACIE & LUCAS WITH THE SELF INFLICTED RUG BURN ON HIS FOREHEAD

2007-08-09T23:56:00.000-07:00

CHLOE AND GRACIE AT THE AIRPORT

2007-08-09T23:48:00.000-07:00

SISTERS

2007-08-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

Chloe put cheerios in the tray to keep Gracie in her doll stroller playing the part of her "baby".

GRACIE SNOOZING THROUGH HER ECHO

2007-08-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

GRACIE'S "BROKEN" HEART

2007-08-09T22:40:00.000-07:00

This is what Lucas calls it...too sweet! Our hearts have been pretty broken this week too as we learned that Gracie's heart condition is not mild at all like was determined by the Tongu Hospital in China. But God has been strengthening, reassuring, and giving us peace as we turn to Him. Much of this has been in the form of encouraging and loving words & prayers from our family and friends--Thank You! The condition they thought she had was just a slight pulmonary stenosis which didn't need surgery or medication. So, basically it was nothing but we should have this confirmed when we returned home which is what we thought would happen when I took her to the cardiologist last Wednesday, 8/1. However, the cardiologist said right away just by looking at her color, listening to her heart, and by her heart rate that this was not an accurate diagnosis. So, I went into the echo with her already anxious and it only got worse as I sat there watching the technician shake his head. Finally, he began explaining to me that her stenosis was very severe, that she had a very large Ventricular Septal Defect (hole in the septal wall between her right and left ventricles) which had caused her right ventricle to become thickened and her aorta to override the septal wall. All of these things combined are a condition called Tetralogy of Fallot and would need open heart surgery to repair. He was very kind & compassionate as I sat there and wept (thankfully Gracie hadn't had her second nap that day and slept through the entire 1 1/2 hour echo while Chloe watched Baby Einstein in the same room and Scott had the boys at youth group). He was still taking pictures of her heart and seemed to be confused as Gracie's cardiologist came in (I think to see what was taking so long). The tech explained what he had found but discussed with him the fact that he couldn't seem to find her left pulmonary artery. He finally found what he wasn't sure was either part of it or if it is just extremely small. Dr. Garabedian, the cardiologist, sat there and explained more to me and went over a diagram. He said every Tuesday morning he, other cardiologists & surgeons from Sacred Heart meet and discuss certain cases and one of those would be Gracie's that next Tuesday (8/7) and that he would call us and let us know what test they collectively decided would be the most effective to get all the info on her heart before surgery. It was a difficult wait but we did receive a call from him at around 8:30 am and he said they decided that a heart catheterization would be best. So, she is scheduled for that on Monday, August 27th in Spokane at Sacred Heart. If they determine that her arteries & blood flow are strong enough then they will do a full repair during her open heart surgery scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 11th. We are praying that is what the case will be as one open heart surgery is invasive enough.

The girls and I left the cardiologist office at 8 pm last Wednesday with my head spinning, my stomach in knots, and my heart aching. After I got them buckled in and started the car the VBS CD we had been listening to on the way there continued playing. The song that began playing is called "God is Good" and it goes like this:

GOD IS GOOD....ALL THE TIME. PUT A SONG OF PRAISE IN THIS HEART OF MINE! GOD IS GOOD....ALL THE TIME. THROUGH THE DARKEST NIGHT, HIS LIGHT WILL SHINE. GOD IS GOOD, GOD IS GOOD, ALLLLLL THE TIME! WHEN YOU WALK, THROUGH THE VALLEY, THERE ARE SHADOWS ALL AROUND. DO NOT FEAR! HE WILL GUIDE YOU. HE WILL KEEP YOU SAFE FROM HARM. FOR HE HAS PROMISED TO NEVER LEAVE, YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU....AND HIS WORD IS TRUE!!!! GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!!!!

I know He put that song on for me at just that momment when I needed His reassurance, comfort and peace and this song has continued to minister to my heart through this roller coaster ride that has just begun.

THANKS FOR ALL THE PRESENTS!!!

2007-08-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

My Dad, Barb, our friends' son Jordan, Lucas and me opening presents for Gracie.

LOVIN' THE CAKE!!!

2007-08-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

A WELCOME HOME RECEPTION FOR GRACIE

2007-08-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you Hester and Pernille for putting together this reception, Paul for BBQ'ing, and to everyone for coming!

GRANDMA KINDALL, GRANDMA CONNIE & GRACIE AND LUCAS

2007-08-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

CHLOE LOVES TO BE MY BIG HELPER

2007-08-05T13:56:00.000-07:00

WALKING WITH HELP FROM KALEB

2007-08-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

LUCAS, KALEB, CHLOE & GRACIE

2007-08-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

LEAVING THE AIRPORT

2007-08-05T13:46:00.000-07:00

HOME UPDATE

2007-08-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Sorry it's been a while but I am still adjusting to life as a Mom of 4! We are back at our apartment and all adjusting well. The kids absolutely adore Gracie and just can't get enough of her! They love to help her walk around, make her laugh, feed her, etc. They have taught her to play peek-a-boo and it's so cute! I think my favorite thing is when we're in the van and the kids are singing at the top of their lungs to the Apologetics or the VBS CD and Gracie tries to chime in! She is an expert crawler and climber and actually took many steps on her own yesterday! It will not be long before she is running! She is doing better with our cat now but still doesn't love him. She looks around for him and says "ca-ca-ca???" I think mostly she just wants to make sure she knows where he is so she can be prepared! The cat wants NOTHING to do with her and is the one who is more petrified now. She says ma-ma and da-da now and is babbling a lot! She loves to go outside and we've already checked out 3 new parks this week! I think her favorites are the swing and slide. We have gone to our pool a few times too and she loves the water too! We have a floatie that she sits in and loves to kick her feet dangling below and watch her siblings jump and swim!

I will update on her heart later this week but please be praying for her as it is much more serious than the cardiologists in China discovered.

WAITING PATIENTLY FOR OUR ARRIVAL

2007-07-31T23:06:00.001-07:00

We were greeted by many family and friends at the Boise airport and it was so great to see them all!! Especially Kaleb, Lucas and Chloe who we missed terribly while we were gone!! But they had great fun staying with Wayne & Pernille for a week, my Mom and Paul for a few days, and Dave and Hester for a few days. We were able to see and talk to them on the computer with web cams & talked on the phone almost everyday which helped a TON! But of course we are so glad to be home and all together again with Gracie!!

THE NEW RAINSBERRY FAMILY OF 6!!!

2007-07-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

GRACIE MEETING EVERYONE AT THE AIRPORT

2007-07-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY, 7/25/07; BOISE AIRPORT

2007-07-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

After 3 flights and two airport layovers totalling over 20 hours we FINALLY arrived in Boise!!! Gracie did really great on all of the flights especially for the fact that we had to wake her up at 5:00 am the morning we left Guangzhou. She slept about 8 or 9 of the hours in the way of naps. Scott and I got a few hours of sleep in the way of naps. So, of course we were all exhausted when we arrived but ecstatic to be home and see all our family and friends at the airport!

BREAKFAST AT OUR HOTEL

2007-07-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Gracie loves to put her feet up wherever she is at! We have many photos of her like this. You can see the Koi pond behind her. It is a very beautiful setting and quite the spread on the breakfast bugget tables! There was raw salmon, rice, noodles, but we stuck with the Amerian options of bacon, toast, omeletes, french toast, and fresh fruit. We have gotten quite used to & spoiled by the wonderful breakfast buffets!

EMMA & GRACIE ON THE INFAMOUS, WHITE SWAN HOTEL RED COUCH

2007-07-24T08:32:00.000-07:00

This was too funny! Gracie had actually been sitting there for about 5 minutes just fine. Then, when Emma came and was not happy after a few minutes Gracie decided she should probably start crying too!

BEAUTIFUL GUANGZHOU BRIDGE LIT UP AT NIGHT

2007-07-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

FEEDIN' THE MONKEYS

2007-07-24T08:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 7/22/07

2007-07-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Sorry I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday! We had a very busy and full day! After breakfast we did a little shopping. Then we had to go back to our hotel room and be available for our guide to get a hold of us just in case the US consulate had any questions about our paperwork. So, I used that time to start packing and cleaning up our room a bit. Then, in the afternoon we went to the Guangzhou Zoo. It was really fun but EXTREMELY HOT & HUMID!!! We got some video of two bears wrestling and jumping in their water hole! It was so fun to watch! Gracie and I also walked down into one of the monkey exhibits and got to feed them out of our hands! One of them even jumped on the back of my shoulder! We got back to our hotel and had a little bit of time to freshen up before we went on a dinner cruise. The inside of the boat was somewhat air-conditioned but it was still pretty warm and the food was pretty ummm... interesting. After dinner we went up to the top of the boat, which was open, and got to enjoy the views! The lights on the buildings off the river were so beautiful!! Again, we would have been able to enjoy it for longer but since it only cools down about 5 degrees at night and the humidity is the same, we headed back inside to enjoy the views with a little bit of A/C. I had tried Benedryl on Gracie in the afternoon and obviously it doesn't have the "drowsy effect" on her because she only took about a 15 minute nap all day! So, she was really tired the whole Cruise and being really loopy/delerious/restless. She finally fell asleep about the last five minutes of our cruise --of course. But it was a lot of fun. But we definitely will not be giving it to her for the plane ride home! We did some more bartering this morning and then this afternoon we boarded one of three buses full of Americans headed to the US Consulate to be sworn in and receive our children's Visas. I thought she became a US Citizen today but I guess she will when we pass through customs & immigrations in Portland on Wednesday. No one is allowed to bring cameras to the US Consulate so we have no pictures of that. The rest of the day we did some walking around and then packed up to head home! It is about 11 pm Tuesdau night here in GZ and we have to be up at 5 am so we can leave the hotel by 5:45 am. I am sure hoping for some shut eye on the plane! We have a ton of pictures but I need to get to bed so that's why you're just getting a few for now. :) We are so ready and excited to get back to our other three children and see all our family and friends! Of course we know that everyone is really wanting only one thing---TO SEE & MEET GRACIE IN PERSON! We love you all and will see you soon!

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

2007-07-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

The bus ride back to the hotel after our "swear in" at the US Consulate.

SUNDAY, JULY 22ND

2007-07-22T07:44:00.000-07:00

We had another great day! Gracie is such a sweetie and has already stollen our hearts and got us wrapped around her finger! Scott has had to scold her a few times for grabbing his glasses and for some reason she thinks it's really hilarious when we tell her "no, no". So, Scott had to say "NO!"very firmly to her today and she buried her head in his shoulder and just cried & cried. It about broke our hearts. She is learning some boundaries but still mostly thinks it's just hilarious for us to tell her no. She is so good and really a pretty easy baby. She is a great sleeper, eater, and pretty easy going. It's great that she will nap wherever because with three active older siblings who are on-the-go she's going to have to nap where she can at times! She had a lot of fun in the pool tonight and sacked out when we got back to our room. Tomorrow we get to go to the Zoo and on a dinner cruise. We are really looking forward to that!

OKAY, THIS IS FUN!!

2007-07-22T07:41:00.001-07:00

NOT SO SURE ABOUT THE POOL...

2007-07-22T07:38:00.001-07:00

WE SHOPPED 'TILL SHE DROPPED!!

2007-07-22T07:34:00.000-07:00

SO PRECIOUS!

2007-07-22T07:29:00.000-07:00

HAVING FUN SHOPPING

2007-07-22T07:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 21st

2007-07-21T09:34:00.001-07:00

Being in GZ has been awesome!!! There is so much more to do here and everything around the hotel is catered to families that are adopting!! Tons of shopping vendors and a beautiful park. And on our way to the medical examination for Gracie I spied the STARBUCKS!!!! Which was right where we headed afterwards and it was total heaven!!! Since I'm up so late doing our blog it's probably going to be the first place I go in the morning!!! :) We are having so much fun with Gracie as she continues to open up and let us into her world! She is such a sweetheart too and loves to be helpful to us! She tries to clean up and "helps" us dress her. She absolutely loves looking at herself in the baby mirror that we brought and likes to sit right on toop of it as with many othe r things. She is laughing like crazy with us now and is quite the little character! Well, I'm off to bed now so I'll try to post more tomorrow.

SCOWLING AT ALL THE OTHER FAMILIES AT DINNER

2007-07-21T09:24:00.001-07:00

There are five families here adopting from Small World Agency and our guide made arrangements for us to go out to dinner togethr. We were sitting at one end with our friends , Eric & Melody & their kids, and Gracie just sat in this position scowling down at all of the other families. It was super funny at first but after 20 or 30 minutes and her refusing to eat or drink her bottle I realized she was pretty much frozen. I picked her up and sat her on my lap and she finally relaxed and I was able to feed her. It was really weird! I guess she didn't like sitting that close to people she didn't know.

GIGGLING UP A STORM!!!

2007-07-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Up until today, we have gotten some big smiles out of Gracie and Scott got a half laugh out of her Thursday morning. But, today we broke through and finally got full blown giggling and laughter!! It was sweet music to our ears!!!

CHINESE MEDICAL CLINIC

2007-07-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

All families have to go through a medical exam with their child before we can leave the country. This doctor was very adamant that we make sure to get Gracie to a cardiologist as soon as possible and she thinks she needs surgery immediately. It really upset me the way she said it through our guide translating it to us. Everyone told me that she was probably just making sure we knew of her heart condition and that it's just her job to make it seem urgent. We do already have an appointment for her 3 days after we get home and so I'm very glad I made that appointment before we left. She was checked by an ENT and everything was good on that front. With a bottle, a big breakfast, probably a wet diaper and her clothes on she weighed a whopping 16.9 pounds and is 30 inches long. But at the rate she is eating it can't stay that way for long!

FRIDAY, JULY 20TH

2007-07-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

We mostly worked on packing up for our flight to Guangzhou today. Gracie continues to do just do great! She slept the whole 1 hour flight here to GZ. The White Swan is about 45 minutes from the airport and so we got to the hotel around 8 pm. We unpacked a bit and then decided to go and walk around the main floor of the lobby. OH MY GOODNESS!!! It is absolutely amazing! There is a waterfall with a huge koi pond at the bottom right in the middle of the main floor. There is a mini-mall with all kinds of shops on the main floor too. The pool is beautiful and outdoors so we will definitely be checking that out tomorrow. Scott swam in the pool at our other hotel and advised that Gracie and I not because it didn't seem to have any chlorine in it. The Gloria Plaza was a very nice hotel too but pales in comparison to The White Swan. We will take some pictures tomorrow and post them. Well, Scott & Gracie are already asleep so I had better get there too. We have to be up early for her medical exam in the morning.
P.S. We never ended up taking her to the hospital in Nanchang. We remembered that she was going to have a medical exam here and we didn't want to sit around in a foreign hospital waiting room if we didn't absolutely have to.

HEADIN' TO GUANGZHOU

2007-07-20T07:29:00.000-07:00

Here we are with the Duffy's and our guide Evelyn at the Jiangxi airport today. It was sad to say goodbye to Evelyn. She was so great and helped us so much! She gave us her e-mail address so we can stay in touch and send pictures.

TRYIN OUT THE SCALE

2007-07-20T07:23:00.001-07:00

Gracie was having so much fun climbing on and off the scale. Scott had it out for weighing our luggage to try to make them as even as possible. China airlines only allow one bag per person with a 44 pound weight limit so we had to be creative in our packing. She got really upset when Scott took her off and set her to the side so he could weight them. Then, she was fine again when she could play on it again.

GRACIE LOVES FRIES

2007-07-20T07:19:00.001-07:00

ZONKED OUT!

2007-07-20T07:13:00.001-07:00

Gracie zonked out while I was talking to my friend, Pernille, on Skype. We were going to go out for one last walk on Pedestrian Way in Nanchang but since she fell asleep Scott went out on his own and brought us back McDonalds for lunch.

THURSDAY, 7/19

2007-07-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

Our guide, Evelyn, took us to a rural area in Jiangxi about a 40 minute drive from the city where we are. She was willing to have the driver take us all the way to Tong gu, where our girls are from, but the Duffy's and us both decided against it. It is about 3 1/2 hours away and we just didn't want to put the girls through a 7 hour round trip ride in one day. So, we opted instead for this countryside tour of what she said was probably very similar to where our girls were from. It was quite heartbreaking. The locals were so sweet and friendly but the living conditions were less than desirable.

We had a really great day with Gracie and her spunkiness and fiesty side are becoming quite evident! She loves to get into things and has really been exploring our hotel room. As we were trying to pack up and get ready to head to Guangzhou tomorrow she was "helping". Which of corse meant she was pulling things out of the suitcases! She was so sweet though because several times she would go find something and hand it to Scott to pack. She did not enjoy her first bath several days ago but now loves them! She was splashing like crazy tonight and eating the bubbles!

We are sad to say goodbye to Evelyn but really looking forward to heading to Guangzhou tomorrow!!!

OUTHOUSES BY THE RICE FIELDS

2007-07-19T08:44:00.000-07:00

These outhouses drain right into the rice fields.

RICE FIELDS

2007-07-19T08:42:00.001-07:00

DRYIN' OUT THE RICE

2007-07-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Every house we saw had rice drying on the ground right outside their doors.

LOCAL WOMAN

2007-07-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

This woman was so sweet and was telling us how beautiful Gracie is. Our guide told us she was probably in her 90's. She was working hard and so cute in her pearls and earings.

MIDDLE CLASS RURAL NEIGHBORHOOD

2007-07-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

NEIGHBORHOOD CHILDREN

2007-07-19T08:25:00.001-07:00

These children were very friendly and kept sticking their heads in and out of the door saying "Hello!"

MORE LOCALS

2007-07-19T08:22:00.001-07:00

KICKIN' BACK AT PIZZA HUT

2007-07-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Gracie loves food! She has not turned down one thing we have put in front of her! And pretty much finishes every last bite! Yeah, one non-picky food kid!

LOVIN' LOTION

2007-07-19T08:02:00.000-07:00

Gracie loves to put lotion on! Here she is trying to rub it on her shoulders like I have been doing. She is soooo smart! Before we went out tonight, we were in our hotel lobby and I needed to put some lotion on her. So, I opened the tube and bent down...well she grabbed the tube and started squeezing! It took me a few seconds to undo her grip and she squirted a whole bunch out. She thought it was great and so did the bell boy who was standing there laughing at the whole scene!

She really has very good fine motor skills. It's those large motor skills that need some work.

GETTIN' A SMILE

2007-07-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

We had some really special bonding time tonight during her bedtime bottle feeding and right after. She would drink her milk and then try to feed it to me--it was very sweet!!! And as you can see here I got some good smiles out of her while we were smooching and cuddling.

THE SCOWL

2007-07-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY, 7/18 CONTINUED

2007-07-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Gracie took a really short nap today and then just played in her crib for about an hour. She was babbling and singing and even pulled herself to standing and was pointing outside the window!!! This was huge and so wonderful to see her come alive!!! Then, we took her out and put her on the floor to see if she would crawl (her foster parents said she could) but she can't. She does scoot herslef around on her bum but we will definitely need to keep working on the crawling thing with her. She had such a better day today and I imagine each day is going to just get better and better!

MOTORSCOOTERS EVERYWHERE!!!

2007-07-18T08:07:00.000-07:00

The streets are absolutely insane around here! There are tons of people driving motor scooters and sometimes a whole family will be riding together. We saw a Dad letting his little boy stand in the front while holding onto the handle bars. And they just weave in and around the pedestrians and the other cars and buses. We saw a city bus and a taxi in a wreck right on the corner where our hotel is. The people just got off the bus and ran to get on another one & the people in the taxi did too like it was nothing! The pedestrians do not have the right away here and you feel like you're in a live game of FROGGER! It is quite frightening!

A STORE GIRL WITH GRACIE

2007-07-18T07:51:00.000-07:00

We were in a store browsing and one of the girls who worked there unbuckled Gracie from her stroller and took her out. The Chinese are very forward and think nothing of doing things like this. Gracie wasn't too sure about it at the begining, then in this shot she was definitely starting to feel uneasy and then seconds later I had to rescue her because I could tell she was starting to get panicked. When I took her I could feel her little heart racing--poor thing. Then, when we were walking down the street another lady stopped us and yanked her sunhat off and said "too hot!" and pointed at her sweaty head. Then she pushed her to a sitting position and we got the impression she was saying she needed more air in the back. We just nodded and said okay and went on our way. This would never happen in the US! We get starred and pointed at all the time and even have people taking our pictures. They are smiling, laughing and often say "Nice to meet you!" because apparently they think that is a greeting. Pretty funny.

SPLIT PANTS

2007-07-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

See those buns sticking out? No joke, this is how all the infants and toddlers who are not potty trained are dressed in China. And when they need to go they just go no matter where they are!!! We ate at a McDonald's tonight and a lady ran her kid out the door and just let him whiz right on the concrete stairs that led up to McDonalds. And the family who is traveling with us from Spokane saw a boy squatting and doing his #2 business right on the floor in the hospital waiting room! And someone came right over and cleaned it up. So gross!!!

PLAYIN' IN THE CRIB

2007-07-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

A MUCH BETTER DAY!!!!

2007-07-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

Gracie really started relaxing today and seems much more secure. She still panicked a few times when she couldn't see Scott or I for a second but these were few and far between instead of the norm. She didn't reject me at all today and even cried once when I walked away even though Scott was still with her. So, hopefully that was just a one day phase. She does do this really funny scowling thing with her eyebrows that totally reminds us of looks Chloe used to give people when she was littler. I've got to try to get a picture of it!