Post Op Day 2

I apologize to those of you who aren't FB friends with me since I didn't have time to blog last night, it might have appeared I left you all hanging.  I was "on" last night at the hospital and I just didn't have time to update the blog.

I did get a good night's rest on Tuesday night at my sister's house.  Because it's in the same city as Jenna's school, we didn't have to get up so early to get to school and that was VERY nice.  I got Jenna to school on time and headed to the hospital to relieve Steve.

The night had been a long one for them both.  The only real complaint we have had here was concerning the night crew Tuesday night.  They didn't try and get the vitals and pain medicine on the same schedule so they were in every 2 hours doing something.  And even though Kylie is pretty good about having people mess with her, I'm here to tell you, this girl is D-O-N-E!  So ever visit was traumatizing to her.  Then they also woke her up to change her diaper.  This is the ONLY time anyone other than us changed her diaper.  Anyhow, it was a long night and made worse by the fact Kylie woke up about 5am and just could not be consoled.  Steve finally discovered the problem...

Her IV had infiltrated (the tube has come out of the vein) and her arm felt like (and looked a little like) a cucumber.  Steve called for the nurses stat and they all came running.  They ended up removing the IV since she had begun drinking.  I arrived after dropping Jenna off and discovered they planned to give her a shot to help relieve the fluid in her arm.  A SHOT.  That's what they said.  But it was "just a sub cutaneous shot", so really not a big deal.

YEAH.

What they ended up doing was not one, but TEN SHOTS all the way around her elbow.  And I got the pleasure of holding my screaming baby down while they poked her over and over and over again.  10 times.  It probably took less than 2 minutes, but by the time it was over, I was sobbing...SOBBING, Kylie was screaming and sweating and the sweet, sweet nurse for the day was also in tears.  I was so distraught, that I never ever heard them pack up and leave (it took me and two other nurses to hold her still and the one nurse giving the shots), but just whisked her away to console her.  As an aside, if there was ever any doubt of my love for this child, it is gone now.  I would have gladly taken her place at that moment.  Or any moment we have been through this week. 

Anyway, right after they left, our friend from church, Samantha (she did our airport arrival pics) came for a visit.  I asked if she'd been here long and she said not long.  I told her what happened and she said the nurse that checked her in was crying.  Such sweet nurses. The good news is that the shots did what they were supposed to and the swelling is almost all gone now and started going down immediately.

Kylie slept in my arms for several hours after that and the rest of the afternoon was really good.  We got her up and walking and she'd walk and wave at everyone she passed.

Then in the afternoon, I was here with her while Steve took Katie to potty.  He called to say that he met someone on the elevator that identified him via Katie.  Shortly after his call, there was a knock on the door and my adoptive friend Kelly walked in!!!  How ironic she would be here (to visit her niece) the same week we are here!  We met online and thought we might travel together, but ended up passing in the sky...she was coming home as we were going.  It was so awesome to meet her in person!!! 

We had several other visitors yesterday and that was fun.  It's good for Steve and I especially to break up the monotony of being in this room all day.

Kylie ate applesauce and pudding and drank quite a bit.  This is good and will get us discharged sooner rather than later.  We aren't sure what to expect in terms of being discharged.  Some are telling us tomorrow or Saturday and the surgeon keeps saying we'll be here a full week.  So I guess the truth is somewhere in between there.

Kylie has eaten well again this morning...a full 6oz of yogurt and almost a whole pudding cup.  She had an OK night sleeping but she's having a congested time of breathing, mostly because she now has a roof of her mouth where there was once a huge hole.  She just slept restlessly and I barely slept.  The nurses last night were great and we got her vitals, pain meds and antibiotics all at once.  All in all, I think she's doing well.  I'm praying we are home this weekend and not here over Labor Day.

She is also going 6 hours between pain meds.  I think she is ready for a nap now but they are coming to do vitals at noon, so we are trying to keep her up until then. 

We appreciate the prayers, texts and messages.  They are felt and are being answered.

19 Months!

*This was written prior to Kylie's surgery and set to post today. 

Kylie is 19 months old today!  Her speech has improved dramatically in the last month and we hope after her palate heals, it will continue.

She now says Mama, Daddy, amen, up and a handful of other words.  Her signing has also picked up to include thank you, up, cookie, cracker, help, love.

She's not just walking but running and is super happy most days.  She continues to sleep well, about 12 hours a night.  We are lucky to get an hour nap from her, but we have adjusted our expectations in that area and things feel so much better.

Kylie continues to go to the nursery on Sundays and loves it.  She really also loves her big sister.  Jenna can make her laugh like no one else in this family.  It's hilarious to watch and makes my heart happy.  In fact, this past Sunday, I left my Sunday School classroom to get some supplies while Jenna entertained Kylie until it was drop off time.  I came back to this:

They had gotten themselves seated and were "eating lunch".  Oh dear...these two...melt my heart.

What else?  Kylie still eats well, but again, that will take a back seat while her palate heals.  She loves to sing, dance and anything that entails those things.  Steve has now adjusted to being at home with her during the day without Jenna around.  So far, so good.

Kylie's hair is growing like nuts and I love it!  I can't wait until it gets long enough to do something with.  I thought about cutting it and evening it up but I just can't bring myself to do it.

We just celebrated our 5 months home and I can't believe it's been 5 months.  Some days it feels like we've been together forever and then others it seems like just a few weeks.  I'm not sure how 5 months can seem like so short and so long a period of time all at once.

Before long, I'll be saying the same thing about our one year anniversary.  Time is funny like that isn't it?

That's What Makes you Beautiful

This was on the way to church a few Sundays ago.  Let me preface it by saying the Sunday before we were singing and Kylie had her fingers in her ears.  No, I'm not joking.  It was pretty funny.

This Sunday though, she apparently liked our song choice better...

Post Op, Day 1

I would say this is going to be quick, but you all know me better than that.  A little fatigue never stopped me from being overly verbose in my blog posts.

First, let me share with you something I think is hilarious and that is Kylie right after she got her "happy juice" before she went back to surgery.  It seriously makes me laugh every time I watch it (although delirium will do that to ya).

So, we finally got to our room in the PICU last night.  Yes, our doctor is conservative and I think I mentioned that in an earlier post.  I don't know of any other doctor that puts their children in ICU after this type of surgery.  But since there was such major surgery so near to the back of her throat, he wanted to monitor her breathing.

In the waiting room Monday.

Anyway, we moved from morphine to Tylenol with codeine for pain before leaving the recovery room last night.  It was 9pm or after by the time our room was ready in the PICU and Kylie was DONE with the day. She didn't want to drink anything at all and it was a challenge to get her meds down her.  I would say she slept about 3 out of every 4 hours.  The first hour or hour and 1/2 she would sleep in her bed.  Then I had to hold her.  So while she slept as well as could be expected in the ICU, I didn't sleep but maybe 3 total hours and that is piecing them all together!

Steve showed up about 8 after dropping Jenna at school and I managed to squeeze maybe 2 broken up hours of sleep.  Then I got my second wind, got dressed and felt better.  The plastic surgeon came by and looked at her mouth (which yes, we traumatizing to her) and said it looked GREAT!  She remained on a clear liquid diet today since she hadn't really drank anything at all.  He did say her vitals were fine and no problems with her breathing, so we were released to go to a regular floor.

Her cute hospital PJs.  The white pants make her look like the karate kid!

Steve and I took turns holding Kylie and that gave him time to grab us some lunch and switch off eating.  Kylie tends to get irritable after being in the room for any length of time, so I had the bright idea of getting the iPad and turning on her favorite movie.  She had just had her dose of pain medicine so I figured after 15-20 minutes she'd be out.

NOT. SO. MUCH.  That gal loves Annie.  She sat like this (or a variety of other ways) and watched the entire movie.  As soon as it was over, they came to move us.  She enjoyed being out of the room because we really couldn't go anywhere in the PICU.  We got on our new floor and of course, all the new nurses taking vitals and looking at her upset her.  She cried and cried and then all of a sudden fell over snoring.  Guess that medicine finally got to her! She slept right up until the next dose almost. 

You can't tell it here, but she's happy to have her jie jie here and Jenna was CRAZY to be able to hold her (as you can tell by the smile on her face).

Kylie has had what I'd consider to be a pretty good day all things considered.  She did drink about a cup of apple juice today and that is wonderful and all the nurses were thrilled.  She still has IV fluids going until they are confident she can stay hydrated on her own, but that means we are changing wet diapers every hour.  So her kidneys are working just fine!

Kylie did love on her bear (thanks Mr. Will!) a lot and made some signs as well as did Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She has made her squint eyes face for a select few.  So we are seeing glimpses of our girl.  I hope tonight is a good night for both her and Steve.  I'm going to bed now...yes, at 8:30.  And I'm not feeling guilty about that AT ALL.

Thanks for your well wishes and prayers.  They are being heard and answered.  While you are at it, pray for the other children at Vandy Children's.  So many of them are there for way worse issues than cleft palate repair.  My heart breaks to think of them.  So while you pray for Kylie, pray for those children and their families as well. We are fortunate.

More tomorrow...

All About Me

Last Thursday was Meet the Teacher Night at school.  It was a crazy busy night but it's always enjoyable to see what your kids are doing and hear what all they are going to be learning that year.

When we first arrived, the hallway was lined with All About Me posters.  Jenna's was just as cute as the others, but what impressed me most was the section on "my church"...

"has a lot of adopted families".  147 million orphans.  And no, our church doesn't have 147 million orphans, but how marvelous that Jenna knows that there ARE that many in our world.

The rest of the evening was great, except for the 15 minutes in which I realized I had left my rings on the sink in the bathroom of the restaurant across the street while washing my hands.  Luckily, it's frequented by a lot of school families and one lady had mercy on me and turned them in. 

Other than that, it was fun and informative.  I'm looking forward to a great 5th grade year!

Day of Surgery

I was thinking I'd have more time to post updates today. Those of you who have been through this probably are thinking HA!

We were mercifully allowed to feed Kylie some jello and pedialyte for breakfast at 8:00. She ate 3 and 1/2 cups of jello and we never heard a peep from her the rest of the day concerning food. That in itself was a huge blessing!

We arrived at the hospital right at 11:00 and were in pre-op by 11:40. Another blessing was not one, but two nurses were from our church. Christine and Kathy took such good care of us. Our pastor came to pray and Deanne was here too along with Steve's dad.

Kylie had a great time playing in her bed and riding the plastic cars around the hallway. Pics of that when I'm able. Her fun increased significantly when the "happy juice" came! She had us in stitches!!

Surgery didn't start until about 2 but at 3:00 an update came that she went to sleep peacefully and that surgery was about 1/2 over. We visited with another sweet family from church and then Jenna (who arrived about 2:45), Deanne and I went for lunch/dinner.

At 4:00 we had just gotten off the elevators into the waiting room when we were called back. The surgeon came right out and reported the surgery a resounding success! The palate closed pretty easily and while there will be other surgeries in the future, he is optimistic this will be the only palate repair. He really put our concerns to rest and said she'd be in PICU tonight just to monitor her breathing. Then several more nights in the hospital to be sure she's eating and drinking.

We only waited an hot before coming back to recovery which is where we still are waiting for a PICU room. Hopefully we will move there soon.

Kylie is in quite a bit of pain but they are really staying on top of it. She's been awake to see us and Jenna but is still pretty upset when she is semi conscious.

Please pray for pain control tonight and somewhat decent rest for me and Kylie and also for Steve and Jenna who will sleep at home. Also pray we will start to see Kylie get an appetite back because the sooner that happens the sooner we can go home.

Thanks for the literally hundreds of posts, texts and voice mails we have received today. I can tell you without a doubt God has heard and answered them all. Keep them coming!

A Big Day

As you are reading this, we are likely on our way to the hospital.  Yesterday was a great day at church that ended with our annual church picnic and baptisms at the lake.  It's always a great time and there's nothing like watching your friends affirm their relationship with Christ through baptism.  I had a great peace about today, but towards the end of the evening I knew I was more short with my family than normal.  So I know deep down I'm worried.  What mom wouldn't be?

I'll update here,but I thought I'd try to leave you a little something else to read in between the updates.  Jenna has started cheerleading at school this year.  She did a cheer camp this summer and really enjoyed it.  Now she practices weekly after school.

The first week of practice after school they got their uniforms.  Hopefully in the next few weeks, they'll cheer at their first game and we will find out just how much she like cheering.  But until then, I really think she's super cute in her uniform!

It's coming...

The day we have been expecting since we first saw Kylie's face is almost upon us.

This Monday, Kylie will go to the hospital to have her palate repaired.  We are going to be in one of the best children's hospitals in the country.  The plastic surgeon is one of the best in the country, known by all his medical colleagues as a "perfectionist".

But none of this puts my mind at ease.  This Mama's heart is dreading Monday and they days to follow.  Don't get me wrong, we'll all be glad to have it over with, but I just can barely stand to think of this sweet face not understanding the pain she is in.

The surgery isn't supposed to take place until 1pm, so that means no solid food from 3am on.  She can have milk up until 5am and then only clear liquids until 9.  Since she wakes up between 7:30-8:30 in the morning, she will likely have only an hour of drinking clear liquid before she can't have anything.  That's going to be a long time for someone who can't understand.

And we all know that surgery won't actually start at 1pm.  Kylie will stay in the PICU Monday night and then be moved to a private room hopefully on Tuesday. She will stay in the hospital until the doctor is convinced she is eating/drinking adequately and her pain is under control.

So, keep us all in your thoughts and prayers next week.  Visit the blog often...I'll update when I can.

Beautiful August Saturday

Last weekend, Steve was busy all Saturday, so I headed out with the girls to do some errands.  It started out with breakfast at IHOP.

In our attempt to get everything done, Kylie got antsy in the car.  So we made a stop at the historic Battle of Franklin just to get out of the car and walk around.

It didn't take us long to walk the entire area, but the view of Franklin was pretty nice at the top...

After some silliness,

Kylie was happy to get back in the car just long enough for our next stop...

Everyone loves the park!  Even Jenna.  And we finally got Kylie to go down the side by herself and she loved it!  She loves the park!  It was such a nice day!  I was just glad to be outside and I think she was too.

Magazine Reading

The other night, Kylie grabbed up one of Jenna's magazines and indicated that she wanted to climb up on the couch.

I helped her up and this is what she did...

Yes, she's going to love to read if I have ANYTHING to do with it!  :)

Summer Friends

For as long as I can remember, I've been jealous of people who have really good neighbors.  When we moved here to the "hill", we found we have the really good neighbors we've always been jealous of!  There are not TONS of kids in the neighborhood that are Jenna's age, but luckily, there is one who happens to live just across the street from us that she's really hit it off with.

Since Steve has been at home, the summers have been somewhat boring for Jenna.  But this year especially was made more bearable by her sweet friend from across the street.  They hung out nearly ALL summer and if it weren't for her, Jenna might have driven Steve completely crazy.

You can't find a child sweeter than Grey.  She has such a sweet disposition and her manners are something Jenna could learn from.  I am always happy when Grey comes over because I never hear a peep from the girls and I know Jenna is thrilled to have someone to hang out with.

So one weekend, I took them outside and tried to get a few photos to document the fun times they had this summer....

This is what summer memories are made of.

County Fair!

Last weekend, we managed to squeeze in an annual tradition of ours...the county fair.  We have typically gone every year with the Millsaps, but this year we weren't able to swing it.

However, thanks to Groupon, we got a super deal on 2 adult and 2 kids tickets.  Since Kylie is free, we allowed Jenna to invite a friend and she brought our good friend Riley Grace from church.  Riley Grace was game for all the rides that Jenna wanted to try.

 They even ventured out and did this one...

And I think this is the point where sweet Riley Grace drew the line and said she was done and wanted dinner.  :)

Kylie wasn't too enthused with the whole thing.

She just wasn't a big fan of riding in the stroller for so long and we didn't think she was ready for the rides.

So, we wore her out allowing her to walk around a bit while the girls waited in line and rode rides.  She sure did like walking around so we didn't let her get too far.

My favorite thing about the fair isn't the animals (we didn't have time to even see them).  Nor is it the rides.  My favorite thing from the fair???

YES.  PLEASE.  My giant iced tea and ribbon fries.  Also, this is the one time a year that I eat a corn dog.  I usually get something deep fried for dessert (Oreo, snickers, etc.) but this year, we all split a funnel cake (which didn't get photographed because it was gone TOO fast!)  We didn't take Kylie anything extra to eat, but she was loving anything on a stick.

As always, it was a great time and Kylie's first visit to a fair.  First corn dog.  I'm so glad we went.  The weather was perfect and the crowds were definitely manageable.  I can't wait until next year when Kylie is old enough to ride things. 

I might try a few out myself. 

And I'm definitely going to get my fill of deep fried oreos/snickers/funnel cakes.

5th Grade!

Monday was Jenna's first 1/2 day of 5th grade.  At her school, 5th grade is the lower end of Middle School. 

MIDDLE SCHOOL.

She was very excited as she is every year when school starts.  We of course got there early, so I parked and we waited a few minutes until it was time for the students to go in.  I was surprised that she asked me to go in with her.  But I obliged and walked her in the door.  About half-way down the hallway (which is a short, rather secluded hallway because the middle school students enter the back of the school), she stopped and said that was far enough.  She could make it the rest of the way.

I managed to suppress my tears.

And ever since, she's walked in alone.  Like the big middle schooler she is.

She's gone from this....

To this...

In a few short years.  I can't even imagine what the next few years will bring.  This Mama can't bear to think about it.

Time for a 'do

Since we'd had so much trouble getting Kylie to sleep, last weekend, I went to get a much  needed hair cut and color.

I love my current hair stylist, but some friends suggested I try theirs who is known to be very good and the even cheaper.  For this girl who is on a strict budget, I decided to give it a go.

I had to drive further than to my current hairdresser, but Jana was great!  She really had some good ideas about what to do with my color and length.

Here is the after photo...

I love it!!

Hello? Can you hear me now?

One of the words Kylie can "say" but only we can understand is "hello?".  Whenever the phones ring in the house, she'll pick up whatever she has nearby...toy phone, remote, HER HAND, and say, 'eeehhhhooooo' in that low high intonation you use when answering the phone.

It's hilarious because just last weekend, we were walking through Tractor Supply Company and their phone rang and she immediate put her hand up to her ear and said, "hello?"  Now I'm not sure where she gets that because I NEVERRRRR talk on the phone!!!

Last week before her doctor's appointment, the family came up to the office to see my co-workers and Kylie was very interested in my desk.  I picked her up in my lap and this is the first thing she did...

Can you see what she's got?  It's my MOUSE.  At her ear.  And she was jabbering away!  I thought I was going to fall out of my chair laughing.

So I locked my PC up and let her go to town on the keyboard.  She had to switch hands with the "phone", but she really enjoyed her office work!!

A future compliance coordinator!!!

She's a smart one, that Kylie.  I told you she was...

A Future Olympian

She's Growing!

Wednesday we went to the doctor for Kylie's 18 month checkup.  Poor thing got 3 shots and ran a fever the entire next day.  I felt so bad for her, but we'd rather her go through this now than get some horrible illness later.  And for what it's worth, I know some folks are anti-vaccine for a number of reasons, but we aren't, so that's just not open for discussion here.  :)

The good news is that since her first visit back in May, she has gained 3 pounds and has grown 2 inches!  This is great news!!! She went from below the 10th %ile in weight to just a smidge under the 25th %ile!  Those 2 inches took her from the 10th %ile in height up to just over the 25th %ile!  So the doctor is very pleased and so are we!

She was sassy as could be in the doctor's office and she was pleased to see more of her personality coming out. 

Yes, it makes me shudder to see them both on the pediatrician floor, but what can you do?  She was happy down there.  :) 

Kylie's sleeping is still going well, but we are about to have to adjust some meds she's on for allergies and I'm not sure whether that will affect her or not.  We are getting closer to her palate repair surgery which we already know will probably set the good sleeping back a ways.  We are trying to prepare for that too.

As far as speech, Kylie is still pretty far behind children of her age.  However, she's attending speech therapy 2x per week and she does "say" a few words....I know by her intonation what she is trying to say, but you can't make them out yet.  She's picking up signs left and right...which is great.  And she will imitate anything and everything we do.

She loves the nursery at church but she is always so happy when I come pick her up and that is my favorite part of my day.  Every afternoon when I come in from work, I get accosted by Kylie, Jenna and Katie.  It's frustrating sometimes because I'm left standing in the middle of the kitchen in my heels, holding my purse, lunch bag and work back along with the dog licking me, Jenna hugging on me and me holding Kylie with all the other stuff.  Poor Steve can't get close, but he's usually cooking dinner anyway.  :)  I digress...

Kylie is a great eater!  She eats just about anything you put in front of her and lately she's discovered dipping fries, chips, whatever in ranch dressing.  Oh yes, she is definitely a Taylor because I remember daycare remarking how Jenna used to want to dip everything in Ranch! Definitely my girls!  She also is working really hard on eating with a fork and spoon.  Unfortunately, she can't quite keep the food on them yet, but she tries really hard.  She will feed herself and prefers to.  Sometimes we just need to help so she doesn't shovel in too much.  And while she likes most food, she has definite ideas about what she likes better which means she refuses what you give her if there's something she thinks is more tasty on her plate.

Developmentally speaking, Kylie is blazing a trail through toddler hood.  She is now developmentally on target with most other 18 month olds (except the speech part).  She is walking very well, playing independently and since she's been getting the sleep she needs, she is SO sweet and happy!!!  We are staring down the barrel at 5 months in our arms and I can't believe we are here already.  Phew.

She's a sweet blessing to us and we are so glad we are seeing her little personality shine through.  We are praying for a successful palate repair and to see her speech explode after her healing is complete.

Homemade Baby Wipes

OK, I'll admit it.  I'm pretty frugal when it comes to buying and clipping coupons and cooking in instead of eating out.  But I'm not a make-your-own-baby-food etc. kind of girl.  For me, time saving is important and I never had time to stand around and puree fruits and veggies and freeze them into ice cube trays.  (no offense to those who do, I just never had time).

But I have taken a shine to some things I have found on Pinterest.  Probably my favorite things are the tips and tricks that I find.  For example, this one is one I've been needing for a LONG time.  I have never found any cleaner to work on the black mess on my flat top stove.  And this one WORKS.  Like for real, it works.

I plan to try this one soon.  I just ran out of time the last few weekends.  I do love the clean smell of freshly laundered clothes.  And so I can't wait to see how this works out.

Oh, and this one???  This will come in handy eventually because I have two little water-bugs in my house and Jenna frequently complains about her ears having water in them.

Ever since Jenna was a wee-one, I have used baby wipes.  Doesn't matter what kind (I prefer Huggies) or what scent, I use them for EVERYTHING.  11 years people!  I still have wipes on my grocery list every month!  Then a few weeks ago, I found this on Pinterest.  And I decided to give it a try.

It is so super easy.  And I had just about everything needed already in the house.  I did go ahead and get the Viva paper towels since everyone I checked with claimed they were the best.  And the other stuff I just had.  I had the green container, but not a round one, so I bought two of those at the Dollar Tree.  The Viva roll is just a little bit too fat to fit in the blue topped container, so I unrolled some to make it fit and then piled the unrolled towels up and put them in the green topped container, almost like a regular wipe box.  I used an electric knife to cut the roll because it is WAY easier and less messy. 

The wipes turned out GREAT!  We have already used the one blue topped container we keep in the kitchen.  I made one for Kylie's room.  I don't use these wipes for stinky diapers....they aren't AS thick as the regular Huggies or Pampers wipes and that's just not a chance I want to take when changing that kind of mess.  :)

But this will save us tons of money in the long run.  So easy!  And cheap!!

Mmmmmmm....

A few weeks ago, Steve was whipping up some brownies for dessert (yes, he has domesticated quite nicely!)

Jenna is always the first one to come running when there are bowls or beaters to be licked, but this time, she had to share (with someone other than me!).

I'm not sure, but I think she might have liked it just a little....

Patty Cake

Kylie is smart as a whip and no, I'm not biased, it's just true.  :)

Steve has taught her to do patty cake and it is so blasted cute!

He's also taught her Twinkle, Twinkle, but we haven't caught that on video yet.  I'll post when we do, because seriously, it's the cutest thing...EVER.

A Sleep Update (asleep or a sleep?)

If you are on FB, you might have noticed we've had some sleep challenges with Kylie over the past 2 weeks.  And when I say challenges, I mean, the lack of being able to stay asleep during the night.  Which also means no one else in the house was getting any kind of normal rest.

And because we weren't getting normal rest, we weren't being normal ourselves.  Finally, at our breaking point, we went to the doctor on Friday.  She confirmed there was no ear or sinus infection or anything else physical causing the issue.  On to plan B.

We have been doing things a little differently at our house.  Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, has an opinion about how to get your child/baby/infant/toddler to sleep and everyone is pretty adamant that their way is the right way.

We have taken a new approach for Kylie and so far, it seems to be working well.  But because we are only a few days into it, I am not going to lay it out for you here.  What I will tell you is that I slept in Jenna's room Friday and Saturday nights and made Steve turn off the monitor so he could catch up on sleep.  We all got at least 7 hours of pretty good sleep both nights.  Last night I slept in my own room with the monitor off and got a full 7 hours.  So right now, it's working.  Steve called this morning and said he was happy, Kylie was happy and playing independently and everyone was just way happier.  So while our approach might not be for everyone, it certainly seems to be working for our family right now.  Time will tell though.

Thanks for all the well wishes and words of encouragement.  When you are so fatigued you can't see straight, those are what gets you through.  Just know, if you are going through this, there's no ONE way to deal with it.  And know also that you are NOT alone. 

And to prove that she DOES sleep every once in a while...

One year ago today.

One year ago today.

It was the day our world changed forever.  Jenna and I were at home on a Wednesday night.  Steve was at church at worship team practice.  My hair was wet and up in a towel.  I had just sat down waiting on Steve to get home.  Jenna hadn't started back to school, so we were hanging out about to watch some TV.

That's when Jenna brought me my work blackberry which was buzzing in my purse.  I was annoyed slightly because the thing buzzes all the time and I couldn't figure out why in heck she'd felt the need to dig it out of my purse and bring it to me that night.  Looking back I know it was simply Divine Intervention.

One year ago today. 

I clicked on the blackberry to see who was emailing me on  Wednesday night.  It was our contact at the adoption agency.  The message simply said, "Give me a call if you are still up".  I called the number, fully expecting to hear that we were re-logged in.  While that was part of the phone call, the part that changed our lives forever came first.

"We have a file for you to review."

The email was sent.  I put on my clothes and threw up my hair.  I called Steve and begged him to hurry home so we could look at the file together.  I still choke up thinking of that evening.  I managed to set up my tripod with my camera to record the moment our lives changed forever.

One year ago today.

We opened the file.

One year ago today.

The face appeared that changed our world forever.

And our world has never been the same...

My sweet Kylie-This day is burned into our memories as the day we fell in love with you.

¹³For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
¹⁶ your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

God knew you were a Taylor as He formed you in your birth mom's womb.  Even then, He created you as a perfect fit for our family.  Long before we knew you, you were part of us.

We love you!