ending already?

Can it be the end of summer already? Just a few weeks until the school year gets going again. I had to start getting my classroom ready last week so Meili came and "helped" me work. She actually did GREAT - carried random things around, played with toys, and kept an eye on the fish. When Jana came to help, Meili played with the dogs. It was fun having her there - watching what kinds of things she would get into. Monday we had a follow-up appointment with the surgeon. He said that Meili's mouth looks good - she has two more weeks of her liquid-only diet and then she can have pureed food again. After three weeks of that, she should be ready to go back to solid food. She's been really good about drinking her soup and fruit drinks without any complaining even when she sees us eating things like cantaloupe (which she really loves). Here are a few shots of Meili "hanging out" in the backyard last week.

nothing can stop her...

Meili is done with surgery and everything went really well. The surgeon did work inside her cheeks and closed the palate opening as well. The surgery took about 2 hours. Meili now has stitches in four different places in her mouth and one set in her nose. Coming out of the anesthesia was hard for her - she cried a lot - so the nurse gave her a narcotic to help her sleep. Meili slept pretty much all day yesterday. We got home from the hospital around 4:00 P.M. and could tell Meili was already feeling better because she was talking and making animal sounds. She slept really well last night (8:00 p.m. - 8:00 a.m.) waking up from about 11:30-12:30 a.m. She was just great today - pretty much back to normal. It's amazing how quickly kids can bounce back from this stuff. We are so thankful for the work of the doctors, nurses and other staff at the hospital - they were just wonderful. We praise God for successful surgery for Meili and continue to be so grateful that he placed her in our lives!

Here's a picture of Meili & Henry reading one of Meili's favorite books.

surgery tomorrow

Tomorrow morning Meili goes in for the next surgery on her mouth. Her surgeon will be dividing some skin flaps on her cheeks (a follow-up to the March surgery.) When he's done with that part, the doctor will determine if it's a good time to close the part of her palate that re-opened since her March surgery. That will make this surgery and recovery more of a big deal than if he just divides the skin flaps. The surgery is scheduled for 9:40 tomorrow morning. Pray that all goes well and for healing for Meili.

Here's a picture of our little sweetie at the beach this past weekend.

faces and noises...

Meili loves reading books - especially when they have animals in them. She likes making the animal noises - and makes cute faces at the same time.

starting a new book

"moooo"

"baaaaa"

"quack, quack"

"woof, woof"

"Hi, hi, hi..." (to Jana who was not copying the noises)
"the itsy, bitsy spider went up the water spout..."
all done and spaced out!

a good day...

I LOVE this picture!!!

Meili's surgery went well this morning. It was a short procedure but having anesthesia made it more of a big deal. Meili was cranky and miserable when she first woke up and screamed all the way home. However, as soon as we got home and I took her out of the car, she cheered right up. It was kind of funny to watch her in the house. Her legs were like noodles after the anesthesia and she couldn't walk. She took a huge nap in the morning and in the afternoon and pretty much just sat with me the rest of the time and read books. It's nice when she's so snuggly! By this afternoon she was feeling pretty good - playing and coloring and running around.

A few pictures from the past few days - it's been in the 90s and we're spending lots of time in the sandbox and the pool!

Meili doesn't like having to get out of the sandbox or pool. You can see the face she makes when she's not happy about something (above). Below you can see from her lips and face that's she's freezing cold - but still doesn't want to get out of the pool!

"Meili, show me your teeth!"