Around the House

She definitely has a sense of humor.

Things have settled into a normal routine now. Last week I wasn't sure things would ever be back to "normal", or rather a "new normal," but time has helped.

Everyone was asking about how Sam first reacted to Carolina, and the truth is, he loved her from the first moment he saw her. Then his love started fading, because she woke up. Bringing a toddler into a home with another toddler is actually quite difficult. She steals his toys, loves his mommy and daddy and just generally invades every facet of his life.

However, all the house guests are gone and they are actually playing with each other. Sam still needs time to himself every day, so Carolina and I can do housework upstairs while he watches a TV show or plays with his trains. Otherwise, life is good at the Klear house. Really good. I can see that both of them are starting to love each other now.

Two nights ago, playing peekaboo with his curtains.

Out at the raspberry bushes yesterday. She's not really sure what
to think of grass and nature. She's such a city girl.

Sam is addicted to our raspberries. If he sees one, he has to eat it. He can barely stop himself. I need to get it on video, because it is truly an addiction in its purist form.

His face is sort of funny here, but it's only because I
made him stop eating raspberries to take a picture.

Just Because

Jet lag #1

Jet lag #2

Bubbles


At the library

Lovin' the T-shirt - Bill wants to get them tattoos that say the same

Ears and such

Carolina's pediatrician looked at her ears yesterday and said they improved some. He could actually see an entire ear drum in one ear and a partial in the other. He said they're still perforated, but we will check again in two weeks. If at that time they are still perforated, we will see an ENT. If not, we will see an audiologist and check for permanent hearing loss.

We have an appointment with the Early Intervention folks in July and a nutritionist will come during the initial evaluation. I'm very happy about that, because my biggest priority right now is getting this girl on solid foods.

In the meantime, my face turned bright red overnight, along with my upper body. Now my legs and feet are red too. My body is hot and really really itchy. I saw my doc this morning (thanks to Trish for babysitting Sam for me!) and he said it's one of two things (he thinks). Either I had strep some time in the recent past and this is my body's reaction to it, or I am having an allergic reaction to something else. So, now I'm on penicillin and doubled my dosage of steroids (I should be weight lifting with all these steroids!) and we'll see how the weekend goes. Since penicillin is a cousin to the other antibiotic I'm definitely allergic to, I don't know what to expect this weekend.

I took a quick picture of myself to show you how much "better" I am. My lips are a bit swollen too and I'm itchy all over. Surely it will get better. I am still dealing with jet lag too, so this is just an annoyance on top of everything else I need to do. Pray for me though!

Pics

Beautiful baby.

Playing with Grandmommy.

Sam and I got up early and made cinnamon rolls.

Apparently balls are her favorite.

Vacation Bible School started this week. This is Sam and his best bud Trathan.

My little diva.

We had our first visit from the CDSA yesterday (Early Intervention). It was wonderful. I had called about two weeks before I left and made a referral for Carolina. I am so glad I did. I think she's going to get exactly the sort of help she needs and my main goal is for me to get the tools I need to encourage her to catch up to her developmental milestones.

We're seeing her pediatrician again today. He called yesterday with some updates and concerns about vaccinations and such. They need to make a growth chart for her too, and I had forgotten to bring all of her weights. We're not sure if this is normal for her (to be so tiny) or if she had a rapid decrease in percentiles at some point, so we'll know more today. Also, her ears seem to be doing a bit better and she's regained some hearing. I think I will get a referral to an ENT so we can assess just how bad the damage is. She definitely is not hearing everything.

Sam has been having a hard time with her, but yesterday was a much better day than any other. I'm figuring out a few things that I had neglected to do before (like ask him to go potty every hour to avoid accidents). I've been doing a little bit of spoiling with him for the last few days, but his grandparents are leaving today and life begins as normal once they go. No more spoiling, just getting into the groove of life. Sounds easy, right? We'll see...

I'll update more after the doctor's visit this afternoon.

Doctor Visit

I have very bad news to report about Carolina. She has two ruptured ear drums and massive ear infections in both ears. We started her on Amoxocillin today and will give her Tylenol around the clock for 48 hours.

Can you imagine flying with two ruptured ear drums? It's no wonder she cried the whole way home. My poor baby!

I noticed two days after we got her some pus and waxy stuff coming out of her ear. A lot of it. I thought then that she might have an ear infection, but we needed to wait to see a doctor here. Then on the airplane, I noticed some goo in her ear completely sealing up her ear canal. Yesterday morning she was completely deaf. A couple hours later the pus and waxy stuff started coming out again and I realized she had ruptured her ear drum.

That was confirmed today. You should have seen the doctor's face when he looked in her ears. I know he's seen some bad stuff, but he said this was terrible. He said both of her ears were the same, both perforated.

She must be in such pain! Look at how she's had to cope with pain in the past - it breaks my heart to know she's not exhibiting the pain because of how nobody has paid attention to her in the past. I hope we can show her the love and care we need to even though she's not expressing how badly she hurts.

Hopefully she'll be on the road to recovery in 24 hours. At least we know now. We'll deal with her other issues (if she has any) in two weeks at our follow-up.

Home

We are officially home. I apparently am joining the ranks of women everywhere who don't have time to blog a lot. So, I'll let you see these pictures and IF I can stay up past 9pm tonight, I'll write about Sam and Carolina's first meeting. Can't wait to share.

Meeting Uncle Seth and Aunt Julieta for the first time in LA

She LOVED Aunt Julieta

Happy Father's Day, Bill

Bubble Time

First time to see bubbles

Dancing with bubbles

This picture makes me tear up
My babies having fun together

Heading Home

This is Shannon posting for the last time. The Klears are headed home! Here are a few last pictures taken the morning of their last day in GuangZhou.

Enjoying Starbucks again (love the mug!!)

Trying for a photo shoot in front of the tree, but Carolina only wanted to hold Mommy.

Who could resist this?

What a beautiful blessing... she's going to meet her big brother soon!

It's Official

The adoption was made final on Wednesday, their time. All the paperwork is complete, and Carolina now has a visa in her passport. Now they are just waiting to board the plane a few days from now.

Teesa's hives are back, so please continue to pray for her health as they get ready to come home. Here are some recent pics...

Where they've been staying

View from their window

Carolina's orphanage... those are banana trees!

Eating much more, but still wanting mostly rice cereal and sweet potatoes

Tummy full & heart happy

Carolina & Co.

Shannon posting again. Sorry about the delay; I wanted to make sure some of these pics were okay to post.

Billy, Teesa, & Carolina have had a busy few days visiting with friends, visiting the orphanage where Carolina has spent her time, and even seeing the very spot where she was found as a newborn.

From Teesa:

Here are some pics of her yesterday. She's a real flexible little one. She can do splits and all. She sucks her thumb when she's sort of regressing into an "I need something" mode but doesn't know how to tell me what she needs. She sucks her thumb and grabs onto a piece of clothing or a towel when she's hungry or sleepy.

Visiting with Bill & Teesa's friend Erica.

The very spot where she was found, wrapped up on the ground in front of those doors.

God already had a plan for her!

This girl must love tea parties! This is her adorable friend Rebekah,

also recently adopted by some friends of Billy & Teesa.

Look at Rebekah laughing - so cute!

These two have a lot to talk about don't they?

More News from Teesa:

Carolina is doing great. We are finally figuring her out and her us. She sleeps twice a day, one long nap in the morning and one short nap in the later afternoon. Her actual stomach has increased in size and she wants to eat more and more at each meal (whereas last week she would eat maybe two tablespoons of rice cereal and 1/3 baby food jar, now she eats three baby food jars and a whole bowl of rice cereal). She's talking and babbling more too and loves to walk everywhere. Still not super attached to Dad, but if Mom is out of the room she is.

Billy, Teesa, and Carolina are scheduled to fly back this Saturday, the 20th. As you're praying for them this week, remember to pray for traveling safety and for logistics to go smoothly. Also, pray for Sam. They are missing him, and he's really missing them as well.

I'll post more pics and updates as I receive them. And soon, Teesa will be back in the blogging seat. Blessings!

A Sweet Day

Looks like Carolina had a great day. (These great shots were taken by Teesa's friend who was visiting.)

Smiles from Across the Ocean

More news and pics from our friends enjoying their new baby girl in China!

These wash basins are used daily for anything from washing dishes to washing hair... and apparently babies!

Her 1st trip to Starbucks? She didn't stray far from Mama, though.

From Teesa:

Every day she's revealing a little more of what she's capable of. She said "Hi" to us today and mimmicks a lot of what we do, like blowing raspberries and clapping her hands or playing peek-a-boo. She's running around like crazy (tiny steps though), but is still very timid when it comes to getting out of her familiar surroundings, i.e. the hotel room. She's still not used to diapers either, because they don't use diapers in the orphanage.

I think Sam will love her. She's a great fit for our family. Last night when we were skyping with Sam, he got very concerned about why she was crying. Bill finally had to tell him that she was very tired and that seemed to help.

One of us is going to go to the orphanage on Tuesday to take pictures and talk with the orphanage director, and maybe take some presents too.

Sportin' her Uber-cute smile! (And some really cool shoes.)

Teesa is feeling better - keep her in your prayers that she will be completely well and have no further reactions to medication. I will post more news and pictures as I receive them. Isn't God great?!

- Shannon (for Bill & Teesa)

Videos of Carolina

*Shannon posting again for Billy & Teesa.

As promised, here are the videos of sweet Carolina.

Introducing Carolina!

*This is Teesa's friend Shannon, updating the blog for her, as it seems they cannot access blogs from where they're using a computer.

Bill and Teesa are still in China. The first meeting and adoption went well, and yesterday they took her to the doctor for her checkups. She weighs about 18.3 lbs. wearing all her clothes (and Mommy's watch.)

Here's some tid-bits straight from teesa:

She's not following any of the normal orphanage-raised child protocols, as in, she is making eye contact, she is falling asleep in our arms, she is begging to be held, she loves riding in her Baby Bjorn and she has already learned to say "more" in sign language, so she's communicating with us.

She can nod her head for yes and shake it for no. She can say "gege" (big brother) for Sam (while looking at his picture) and she reaches out to Bill and me. She dislikes other people holding her and throws her body towards mommy.

But, she is definitely developmentally delayed in a lot of ways. She only drinks from a sippy cup once a day and refuses liquids the rest. Plus she won't really eat any solid foods, except baby foods and rice. We did sneak some egg in with her rice tonight and after a while she wanted it on her own, but it's very difficult to get her to eat something new. We're going to need to try cow's milk tomorrow, because she dislikes her formula (which they told us she eats).

We're going to try to visit her orphanage in a couple days and see where she's spent her time. The orphanage director was extremely sweet and even provided us with a little picture book of the orphanage and Carolina standing and playing outside of it.

They need our prayers:

- Teesa has been sick, suffering from hives due to an allergic reaction to some antibiotics. Please pray that she will get well quickly.

- Pray that everything continues to go well, and Carolina will continue to bond with her new parents, and will begin eating and drinking as she should.

- Remember to pray for Sam who is still waiting at home for Mom and Dad to return with his new sister.

Teesa sent me a few short videos of Carolina which I will upload to the blog soon. For now, here are more pictures - isn't she beautiful!! Praise God for answered prayer!!