Piece of My Mind Volume 2

Hello!

This morning Hattie had tubes put in her ears and all went well medically. On a professional level, I am not quite as sure. There was a nurse who was helping us get started with the process. She was talking about how Hattie might feel when she woke up after the procedure. She said, "since you did not MAKE HER" you won't know how she will react. (Hmmm, so if we HAD made her we would know how she would react?) Next, she said, " My apologies, but it is like adopting an older dog, you just don't know the background and etc." Again, am I to assume this means that if Hattie had a horrible background she would react worse to medical procedures? I am seriously blown away by the way this woman presented her thoughts.

Tonight, as I was rocking Hattie and giving her her bottle, I was thinking of what I would say if I wrote a letter to the Surgery Center letting them know about this episode. I had to keep myself from bursting out laughing as all of a sudden the perfect phrase popped into my head. (why was it exactly 12 hours too late??) I SHOULD have said, "Oh, is that dog YOURS or did you adopt him?"

Ah, well. I tend to feel it is best to be polite and to take the opportunity to educate someone gently if they say such remarks but whew, I am seriously going to have to be ready with some quick responses to deal with people who call themselves professional yet have a lot to be desired in plain old people skills.

I keep wondering what I should have done? Again, I think this all goes back to education. People need to be aware and educated about adoption and the lingo. If you are curious and feel a great need to ask a question, please don't say does he/she know her mother or father? Uh, yes, you are looking right at us! Say biological, please. As that is JUST what is is, BIOLOGICAL.

If you see us with our ASIAN baby, don't then assume it is your right to ask if the other kids are OURS or are they adopted, too?? What?? They are our kids, we are their parents. Do we ask you if your fourth child is from you and your husband or you and your boyfriend?

OK, I could keep this up but that is enough for now. Feel free to give feedback!

Don't you think it would have been funny had I really asked that nurse if that dog was HERS or did she adopt him??

I will try and have less attitude next time!!

Election Day (and a piece of my mind!!!!!)

Hattie had her first experience voting today. She quite liked it as she was the center of attention. We may as well have been running for something ourselves as we were sure having a "meet and greet" :)

This week is Hayden's birthday, so we are gearing up for a houseful of boys and numerous loaves of pizza bread to be mixed up on Friday night.

We are still waiting to hear the dates of Hattie's surgery.

Now, for a piece of my mind. Hattie and I were at a doctor appointment recently and the nurse was asking questions. "How long has she been home from China?" 6 weeks. "Do you have other children?" Yes. Now, brace yourself....she actually asked me- "are they YOURS or are they ADOPTED?" I was quiet for a minute and fired up, instantly, and responded very sugary, sweetsy, chipper, "They are OURS and they are adopted. (Hmm, still don't know why she even felt a need to ask this question?) She stammered around and was uncomfortable as she realized what she had said and I felt a bit mean as I did not do a thing to make her feel more comfortable. But, what if one of the kids heard someone make a statement like that? WOW. I know people don't mean any harm, but they truly need to think about the impact of what they say. Furthermore, why does giving birth make someone "own" their kids? I am not working this hard to take care of those random kids I picked up in the Target parking lot.....I am working this hard to take care of my kids and it is beyond irritating to be asked such questions. Again, why does it even matter? To us, where they come from matters not-that they are here is all that matters!

Spread the word and don't feel bad to allow someone to be uncomfortable. I am pretty sure she will be thinking twice before she asks that question again......

To Miss Hattie

Dear Grandma Morgan

Dear Grandma,

I had a great time playing with the blanket you made me and the cute bag. After dinner tonight, I spent a good hour dragging the bag around, putting my socks in it and carrying around the doll size version of the bigger blanket you made me. I tried hopscotch on the squares, put it on my head to play peek-a-boo and tried it on like a bib. I covered the dog, tried it out as a pillow and tried just about anything I could think of.

I will be taking the blanket to the hospital with me and I heard my mom say she would be bringing the one you made her, too. We will need a cozy reminder of home.

Thanks for all the hard work on the blanket and all the love....

Oh, and please excuse the pictures if they are blurry-I was a busy girl and wouldn't hold still for mom to get a good picture.

Love,

Hattie

Fall Update

Hello,

We have been busy around here. This week, Hattie had an appointment with an ENT who recommended she have tubes put in her ears. (No surprise there as this is VERY common with CL/P Kids)

Hattie and I headed to Grand Rapids in the midst of the major wind storm and that proved to be an interesting drive. We were driving right into the wind and I seriously wondered if the hood of my car was going to blow off. Thanks goodness for the new Taylor Swift CD, Hattie and I enjoyed listening to that and she was a good little traveler. We left Wednesday and did some shopping and eating out and then on Thursday she had her appointment with the Surgeon. I liked him very much and appreciated that he took lots of time to explain how he does things and also answered any questions.

We were in there an hour and a half and Hattie was very good but getting tired. I didn't want to pull out my snacks for her as they had just told me they didn't want me giving her Cheerios or anything but Stage 3 type baby foods and the puff type snacks. (AHHHH, where were the puffs when I needed them? :) )

Anyway, Hattie had a clipboard with her questions for the Doctor and she took lots of notes. Check the photos!

The plan is to have tubes in her ears on Nov 8 here in TC. Then (we still are waiting on the dates) we will go to GR and have a partial lip repair done. 4 months after that we will take her to GR for her palate surgery and after that one more lip repair.

In other news, Hattie sure likes to go out to eat. One night in GR we went out for Mexican food; she enjoyed rice and black beans and guac.

After her appointment we went to Red Robin and she enjoyed a grilled cheese and mandarin oranges.

The best news? She is walking around giving kisses to us and when the boys come home she walks right up and hugs them and they love that. It is sweet to see that she knows and expects love and affection from all of us. What a wonderful thing!

More soon! We will use the blog to keep everyone updated on the medical journey we are on with Hattie. So keep checking back!!

A Hodge Podge Post

Hello.

We are still here and doing well. In fact, I would say this week has been the most settled and normal week since we have been home. Since Kory and the doll episode, Hattie has been sleeping alone in her crib in her room from 7 at night until 7 in the morning. !!!!!! On Monday, I think I was in a total state of disbelief as both Culley and Hattie took naps at the same time and they slept a good while. What a treat and what a difference a little breather makes!

Hattie had her first spaghetti dinner and quite enjoyed herself. See the photos for yourself!

We all had flu shots this week. The boys and I had the mist but Hattie had to have her first shot in the US. She didn't even cry. This photo is of the kids after a long day at school for Hike-a-thon and then to the Dr's office.

Today, I walked into the grocery store after church and a girl was holding an armful of fruit and trying to get a cart. I couldn't believe my eyes so I asked her if she was really holding dragon fruit. She must have thought I was a bit off my rocker, but she confirmed yes, it was dragon fruit.

I was so excited to bring Hattie a taste of China and our time together in China. I was also excited to see if the boys would like it and they did. But get this, for three little dragon fruits it was 16 dollars! Whew! I won't be buying those like we do banana's but it is important to us to try and blend some of what we experienced in China into our lives here in the US.

Oh, and what a funny contrast. Lots of Star Wars Cookies were baked tonight in preparation for Hayden's birthday. Check out the counter picture-Star Wars Cookies and Dragon Fruit. I love it!

Beautiful!

This photo is one of my very favorites of Hattie. Isn't the setting amazing? This was taken in China.

Hattie continues to do well. She has been sleeping in her crib all night with her daddy on the floor right next to her crib. Last night, I peeked in there as Kory was coming out. He said, "look who is in bed" so I tip toed in there wondering who was in his spot, Hayden or Culley? Well, it was pillows and some doll with black hair. He was hoping to fool Hattie in the night. If she looked down from her crib she would have thought it was Kory or I:) It worked until about 3 am!

She truly is a wonderful little girl and we are so thankful for her.