Just another day.

To most people that saw Claire today, it seemed like it was just another day in her life. She got up this morning and I got her dressed for the day. Nothing special. She had physical therapy with Ms. Denise. It was fun...but regular. Then we went to the hospital for some tests. All part of life for this three year old. I counted them today. She's had 36 medical appointments since last June. That's if I didn't miss one when I looked back at the calendars. Just another day. We came home, took Isabel to dance class and then swim team for Isabel and Parker. Just another day.

But if you'd seen her a year ago today

You would know that today was not just another day.

A year ago today, she was a scared and confused little girl.

Taking peeks at her new parents, strangers trying to get her attention.

A year ago today, after traveling several hours from a village outside of town, she was taken from the lap of her foster mother of two years and unceremoniously, dropped in mine. We spent just enough time in the orphanage to sign some paperwork giving us temporary custody of her and then went to our hotel. Many of you remember the post I made that day. If not, feel free to look back here. I remember that day very well. I remember that she moved her legs, ever-so-slightly, when she was sitting in my lap and I knew she wasn't paralyzed! I remember that she seemed like she was almost in shock and that she wouldn't have anything to do with Paul.

She played. She ate. She played some more. And then some where along the way....

She realized that something wasn't right. She was not in familiar territory anymore. And, she suddenly did not want to have anything to do with either one of us.

But, she tried to be brave.

When she fell asleep, I was able to take her socks off and get a first look at the her feet. They were beautiful, but we knew she wouldn't be able to walk this way. We suspected that she had club feet, now we had our confirmation.

These little shoes were on those feet. I still have them. They appeared to be handmade....probably by her foster mother.

That night she fell into a fitful sleep. She didn't understand that we loved her. She didn't understand that she was going to have a forever home. Brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and grandparents. All she understood was that this was not just another day.

Today that scared little girl has come into her own. The child that wouldn't make a sound for three weeks, never stops talking now. Never. She's still talking when I walk out of her room at bedtime! The child that behaved like a feral cat when we tried to bathe her, splashed in the sprinkler just a few weeks ago. The child that China said would never walk, can't be stopped!

Today she is happy and confident. And, we are blessed. Today is the anniversary of her "Gotcha" day and it may have seemed like just another day, but it was not. Unfortunately, her urologist had plans for us today.

So, Claire and I spent this anniversary at the hospital. Claire was not thrilled with this idea, but we have good news. One year after they told us her ureters were ruined and she would need surgery for kidney reflux, this new test proved that God is good! Claire's bladder did not reflux into her kidney's until it was full of 260 cc of fluid, as opposed to 50 cc last year. She will not need surgery, just a little medication for night time. And, her kidneys look wonderful!

So, it wasn't the traditional way to celebrate this milestone, but the good news made up for it! We went home and ordered Chinese take-out for dinner. She got to use her chopsticks......though she doesn't really care for Chinese food much! Go figure!

Happy Mother's Day

To the two Moms that made us possible!

My mother, Brenda

Paul's mother, Dianne

Thanks for everything you've done for us through the years. We hope you have a wonderful day! Love, Paul and Chelsea

And, to all the moms out there~have a great day! I know I will! I am so blessed!

Yesterday

Okay, if you read yesterday's post, you know it was my anniversary. I did not spend it with the love of my life, as he was.......yeah, you guessed it, out of town. Nothing new there. But, it was for a good cause! It seems we have gotten quite accustomed to three meals a day and a roof over our heads. So, we'd like him to keep his job!

Since I couldn't be with him, I ended up looking at our wedding photos. Boy we looked young...and it was only 15 years ago!! You don't realize just how much you have changed until you look at old pictures.

I scanned some of them in to share. This might only really be fun for the people that were in the photos. The rest of you are free to move on to more interesting blogs if you want to. I won't be offended. Really! But, if you do stick around there is a surprise at the bottom. I kept digging in my old pictures and I came up with an few old prom pictures! Can you say "dork".

This is a picture from 1992, the year we met and started dating. That is the skirt I was wearing the night we met. I know I'm a dork, because I know that! I'm an even bigger dork.....because I still have that skirt! Oh yes I do!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding. Lizzie was 4 1/2 that day and she was so tiny and blond! SO cute! After we walked down the aisle and got into places, she left hers, ran over to Paul and hugged his leg from behind. I didn't see it until I saw the video, but it would just melt your heart!

Joanne Rice (junior bridesmaid), Kim Taylor, Michelle Lotspeich (Prince), Me, Jennifer Fentress (my sister), Amy Shaw (Ryan-my sister), Stephanie Rice (junior bridesmaid)

My wedding party. Yes, I love purple and yes I made them wear those dresses. Sorry!

This is a picture of me with my junior bridesmaids, Stephanie and Joanne Rice. They were little girls that I babysat for everyday for several years. They are both married with children now! How is that possible?

The groomsmen. Mark Weatherford, (first note that he is standing one stair down from the other guys but is still just as tall! HE walked with my tiny junior bridesmaid, Joanne!) Curtis Ray, David Gour, Paul, Glen Stroud (his Dad), Bruce Root (his best friend and roommate from The Citadel), Mark Fentress (my brother-in-law) and my Daddy!

At the reception. SO YOUNG!

My parents! My example of a what marriage was all about.

Drum roll! My senior prom.......don't you love how my date wore a pink bow tie and cumberbund ??? Because it went with what I was wearing and I liked pink. Cool right? Say it was cool! I actually dated David for 9 months. Does he look a little young here? Yeah, he was freshman. I was 17, he was 14....maybe 15. Yikes!

And, if that wasn't dorky enough......we thought it would be cute to have our pictures made together... with our double date partners......my best friend, Michelle and her date, Steve. Lovely! We look like a singing quartet!

Her date's tie and cumberbund were peach to match her dress. Can we say a collective "Awwwww". LOL!

Ouch!

This is what I recently discovered when getting Claire up one morning. It is a sore on her ankle, obviously caused by one of her braces. She wears AFOs all day long so she can walk and a Dobbs brace at night to keep her feet from reverting back to their original club foot state. A Dobbs brace is essentially just a pair of AFOs attached with a bar between them. We had noticed a little redness around her ankle, but were unable to determine which brace was causing it. After seeing this Friday morning, we thought we pinned it down to the Dobbs brace. Well, that thing came from St. Louis, so that will be a wee bit inconvenient to have that orthotist look at it! We put a call into Dr. Dobb's staff to see what we should do. In the mean time, I let her sleep without if for a few days. I just couldn't stand the thought of her ankle getting worse. Sadly, she didn't seem to notice the sore at all, and did not complain about it. That is just a another indicator of how much nerve damage there is in that area and a reminder of how careful we have to be to keep an eye on her feet for her. What she did notice, was that we put her to bed without her brace! She did not like that at all! Talk about "creature of habit". She cried hard for ten minutes and off and on for another 30! But, once she got it all out, she managed to get over it. Thankfully, we found out that our local orthotist should be able to fix the issue and we got into to see him on Monday. He thinks he figured the problem out, but it will take a few days to be sure. While we wait for the sore to clear up, Claire's ankle needs a break and she can not wear her AFOs during the day. Did you hear that......yes, it was her heart shattering into a million bazillion pieces. No AFOs? That means no shoes and that means no walking! And, that translates to an unhappy child! And, a sad Mommy. Folks, she begs for her AFOs. "I wuv to walk, Mommy."

I am about to head over to the Wednesday Prayer Meetin' and we would love it if you would join us. Significant Source always has a good message for the day and you may need to hear it! I usually do. I know that the sore on Claire's ankle is a small issue, but I also know that it matters to her Heavenly Father anyway, so I ask that you please pray for quick healing so that Claire can get back in her AFOs and back on her feet....where she wants to be!

Picture This!

Enjoy that new family picture up there. It was hard to come by! I made the appointment for last Saturday, just in the nick of time. This was Lizzie's last week at school and soon she will be gone back to Lexington for the summer. I'm sure we'll see her some, but we don't know when or for how long. That's what happens when your kids grow up.

So, when Claire realized that she wasn't in the picture over the piano and wanted to know where she was, I decided we'd better do something about it. Before Lizzie took off for the summer. We talked about it for a week leading up to the big day. She wanted to be in the middle! In mommy's lap. She was very specific. She would smile. She showed me how. We practiced. And practiced! She woke up Saturday wanting to know when we were taking the picture! Language, it's amazing!

We went to the studio bright and early Saturday morning. And, by bright and early, I mean 11 o'clock, because that is bright and early for Lizzie! Claire played while we waited our turn. When the photographer was ready, we moved into the staging area and began to get situated. That was the minute that Claire chose to burst into tears for no apparent reason. Okay, so much for language development helping us out.

I got her calmed down, but I could see in her eyes that she was shutting down. Yvette knows what I'm saying here! But, the show must go on and I hoped she would snap out of it at some point. Hello, you wanted this picture, remember? So, she sat in my lap. Where she wanted to be. We were all posed and smiling, the camera was clicking away and then.........flop. She just flopped over in my arms like a rag doll. I pushed her back up. Flop. Again. I pushed her back up and............slide. She slid right off my leg! Good grief. I see you are laughing now. It wasn't funny then. Okay, maybe a little. But, she really had shut down. So, we decided to halt for a costume change. I don't know? Sometimes different clothes can make a girl happy. Maybe?

side trip- Claire thinks it is hilarious now when we talk about it. She will tell you how she acted like a rag doll, complete with the floppy head motions, and giggle about it. Almost as if she's proud of that moment.....hmmmmm.

At this point the photographer decided to pull out all the stops. He got his stuffed kitty and threw that around. She glared at him. Apparently not a fan of cat trauma play! Feather Boa? Nada. Funny faces? Yeah, right. But, then someone tossed a ball at her and that shattered the ice. We didn't get a true smile, but a hint....for a minute. Hey, we were on to something. Throw the ball, people! A few more times and it accidentally....hit her in the face! Oh no! Oh yes! We got a laugh! Who knew? So, we threw it at her head a few more times......gee, I hope the social worker isn't reading this. We got a few smiles....what more could we ask!




Please note the cupped hands. Yeah. She is not praying, as one friend thought. SHE IS WAITING TO CATCH THE BALL! Of course! After this, we chanced another family photo op and managed to get the one you see up there. She wasn't as crazy about the photographer throwing a ball at her head as she was when I threw it at her. What can I say? She's picky about who tosses things at her face!

*update: Lizzie pointed out that I failed to mention that part way through the 145 shots the photographer took of our family, Isabel decided it was no longer important for her to smile so much. So she didn't. And no one noticed. Until we looked at the pictures on the computer after the shoot. Too late to fix it. I guess we need an extra set of eyes next time....to make sure everybody remembers to smile! So, out of 145 I got one okay family shot and one of Claire. None of just the children or just the girls. Maybe next time*