Kaylee's Eyes

We continue to be so thankful for all that Jesus did with Kaylee's eye surgery---we just felt His Hand and His Peace in such incredible ways all day long. Just the fact that she is a very sharp little girl and she knew full-well that as we changed her into hersurgery  clothes, something was about to take place that she wouldn't like and she still was calm!

The surgeon said she was surprised by how well she was able to align Kaylee's eyes considering how far off they were and once she got in there, her right eye muscle was dropped down way lower than it should be. She thought it would be harder to tighten it the way Kaylee needed it to be, but she was able to fully tighten it! 

Brodie gave praise to Jesus and said, "Well, we've all done our jobs, now we get to sit back and watch Jesus do His job of healing her how He wants to." The doctor looked right at him and said, "You know, more and more I'm starting to believe that as I see things happen around me that I didn't do." 

She shared with us a little about her faith background (or lack of faith growing up) and then she got tears in her eyes and said it was a blessing for her to be able to be a part of helping Kaylee and how "lucky" Kaylee is to have us. We of course were able to share how WE are the ones who have been blessed beyond measure! 

We shared how we never even wanted to adopt in the first place and Jesus moved in our hearts and called us and then gave us the courage to say YES. 

We shared with her how through Kaylee's adoption, our big kids have been able to see that Jesus' love is REAL and not just something their parents and church teach them about. 

Our big kids saw God call our family to a broken little girl who desperately needed love and they've seen what HIS LOVE can do in such a short time. She was totally listening to every word and completely engaged the whole time...it was the longest post- surgery brief I've ever been a part of :) 

It was so awesome to see Him move in this doctor and know that Kaylee's life touched her in some small way. Needless to say, I will be praying for her to see Jesus everywhere she turns and surrender her life to Him! 

She also told us we will see begin to see significant improvement in brain processing now that Kaylee's eyes are aligned :) Thank You Jesus!!!

Went to Nana and Papa's house to play the other day 

Looking less red!

We've had a busy week being at school for end of the year parties...we wore this girl out! Brodie had the great idea a few weeks ago to move out the twin bed with bedrail that we had in here and put her crib with one side taken off and pushed up against our bed. It fits much better and is safer for her (as she rolls around A LOT!) She wanted nothing to do with her crib when we first got her home---but with one of the sides off and having it bumped up to our bed she seems to like it! Sleep is still a struggle for her but we know that in time she will feel safe enough to get the rest she needs :)

Thank You, Jesus! Eye Surgery Day

Thank You, Jesus for...

Doing IMMESURABLY more than all we can ask or imagine!

Friends and Family who PRAISED You while Kaylee was in surgery

Wonderful, caring nurses...many of which knew You...and others who You allowed us to share about You with

Opening a door to not only witness to Kaylee's eye doctor but also allowing a FULL ON conversation with her about You!

Kaylee's surgery going better than the doctor had hoped it would!

A peaceful recovery :)

Getting ready

Really? Another surgery???

Starting to feel a little sleepy from the medicine

Feeling a little silly, too!

So thankful for a peaceful recovery this time!!!

Home and healing...eyes will be red for a couple of weeks

Thank you all for praying!!!

Ear Tubes

Kaylee will have 3 surgeries in 3 1/2 weeks ~ we feel awful that it worked out for them to all be back to back, but all were necessary so we needed to take what openings we could get. Two down...one to go! It's been a lot on her - we continue to just pray the PEACE of Christ to cover her! Thankfully the ear tubes were such an easy, quick procedure! It's just the trauma of it all that affects her so much :( But we're so excited for her to be able to hear us clearly...praying for her speech and eating to improve now that all that pressure is gone! One small victory ~ but all small victories are HUGE around here ;) ~ she drank apple juice (1/2 apple juice, 1/2 water) from a bottle that the surgery center gave to us! Not only in the recovery room but she took a few sips at home also! One step closer to her eating something other than a bottle with formula ;) I'm really hoping that she will continue to sip on apple juice/water here and there, especially now that summer is here and we will need to hydrate her more

In the waiting room - already not loving that we are surrounded by nurses and doctors ;)

Another praise...her hands are continuing to heal AMAZINGLY well! She can use both thumbs to play and hold toys...each of her thumbs are getting more range of motion each day. She starts PT this week to improve this even more.

Prayer: For our big kids (who have been such beautiful blessings and helped more than we could have ever asked with Kaylee).  Just praying for each of them to continue to be drawn closer to Jesus every step of the way!

Surgery Day! The God of All Comfort

Well, we are home and the doctor said her surgery went really well! He ended up needing to rearrange a couple of her ligaments so that added to what he was originally planning on doing but he is hoping that ultimately it will help the overall function of her hands. He mentioned again that her thumbs will always be smaller and not quite the same as our thumbs...but we know that Jesus is able to do all things and if it is His Will, He will give her full functioning hands. We're praying for that for sure!

In waiting room

Sitting with Daddy for a picture ;)

Getting her gown on

What kind of socks are these???

Music makes everything better!

They would not let us go back with her at all no matter how many times I explained the unique situation of her being terrified and only being home for 6 weeks - she just fell to pieces when they took her :(  So hard!

The moment that she began to wake  they said she went completely "wild" like they have never seen before :(  She ripped her IV out and was thrashing uncontrollably. They ran and got us immediately and thought we'd be able to calm her (usually she calms right away with us) - she was so out of it that we didn't help much at all. She was tugging and pulling on her casts to get them off (and hitting us upside the head with the casts - Brodie calls them her boxing gloves). Poor girl!!! We put praise music on and prayed over her and spoke Jesus' Peace into her ear. We felt so awful for her :(  After about 45 min back there she got calm enough for us to move to another room and start discharge. They rushed us through because they thought she'd calm more once we were home (and honestly, I think they didn't know what else to do with us!)

We got her to rest a bit before they discharged us...poor girl!!!

After we got home, she kept on screaming and screaming but was pointing at a bottle (they told us only clear liquids - well, she won't take clear liquids...only her bottle exactly how she likes it). We tried apple juice anyway but she just hit it away from her. So, we started with just 2 ounces to see if she could keep that down - well, she guzzled it down and then screamed for more. We just gave it to her (poor thing - she hadn't eaten since last night at 9:30 and when formula & rice cereal are all you'll eat, it doesn't go very far!) She took 7 more ounces and wanted more... So we gave her 4 more ounces and still she wanted MORE! We were afraid after all the meds she had to give her more so we just got her to sleep. Praise Jesus that her bottle stayed down! She woke up after about 40 minutes  crying so hard so we gave her her medicine. Sleeping again now...

Rest well Kaylee! May Christ's Peace surround you!!!

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort." 2 Cor 1:3