Easter comes early in Oregon

Today we went to Thad's grandparents. We had a great meal and Sarah got to meet many more family members. It was fun to see her so warm to everyone right away but that is just her. She even went to "uncle Rob" and pulled at his Santa beard. She's not used to facial hair since she is from China. She also had a hard time waiting for cousin Abby to wake-up but when she did Sarah ran right to the couch got up and put her arms out to hold her. Abby is 1 1/2yrs old but has a disorder that affects her muscle tone and ability to make "energy". Abby weighs 20lbs and Sarah weighs 28lbs so it was funny to watch her hold Abby. She truly loved it.

The kids had an Easter egg hunt put on by non other than Thad. Saturday while I was at work he and the kids died Easter eggs. Taylor was still asking tonight why it's "not really" Easter yet. We talked about what Easter means to us and that we will be going to the Easter story performance here in The Dalles.

Sarah was happy to get dressed up and Taylor asked why he couldn't wear his ratty shoes!

Sarah has a pediatric dental appointment tomorrow. We will see how that goes. Thank you Lord that she has been so good with people poking at her so far! Tuesday she will have tubes placed in her ears. Currently she has water that is not draining out and the tubes should help with that. Currently she hears like she is under water. No wonder when she talks her words sound like she is under water too. So we will start speech therapy soon. I am so thankful for the services we have here.

Have a great Easter (in 2 weeks) hope you are able to spend sometime pondering the amazing grace of Jesus and the miracle of His resurrection! Have a great week; sure hope we do!

-the Routsons

Quick Post

I forgot to mention the great day we had at the AWANA car race a couple weeks ago. Taylor won 2nd place in the race and 1st place for design. Sarah got 3rd place for the race and 4th place for design. The best part was as Sarah was getting her last trophy I noticed that another kid was not going to get a trophy. (Long story short they judge design before the race so who knows who will get what trophy) I looked at Sarah and pointed to the girl next to her and asked her to give it to her. She gave it without hesitation. I don't think she understood it all but I was glad to see her share a trophy. Then Thad saw a boy that didn't get a trophy next to Taylor. Taylor was already beaming at 2 trophys! Thad called out to him and had a little chat with him. Taylor (by himself) gave the little boy his trophy. We talked all day about giving to people who don't have what we have and the joy from giving what you have received to someone else. He asked us about it all day and sometimes got sad but in the end those race cars helped him (and Sarah I hope) to learn something more valuable than winning a race. -Becky

Surgery/Speech/Audio Eval Day!

So we had Sarah's appointment with the cranio-facial team at OHSU today. What a long day. First intake, then audio, surgeon, nurse practitioner, social service, then speech eval. It was great and lots of info. The team at OHSU is wonderful! Sarah will be evaled for ear tubes tomorrow due to fluid in her ears and have them placed here in The Dalles where we live. Taylor had them too so we have done it before: fun fun. She will start speech 2 times a week and then get evaled in 6months. At the eval in 6 months they will do a scope up the nose and down the throat to see if her palate can close. If not she'll have surgery in Dec for that. She'll have an anterior palate repair after her permanent teeth come in about age 10. She will wear a retainer to expand her mouth for about 6months before that surgery. She'll have bone marrow taken from her hip and put in the area above her 4 front teeth that is missing bone. We pretty much expected to hear just that. The surgeon said they did a wonderful job on her lip and she may not need revision but we will see when she is about 12 or so. She'll see the pediatric dentist next Monday in Hood River. Dentistry is where most of her repair will come since several of her teeth are black and horrible. One fell out due to decay already.

She did so great with everything today and everyone commented on how great she was doing with the exams. She barley moved (even though I could tell it hurt) when they looked with a scope in her ears. She has fluid in them. The speech lady said she was a wonderful patient and wanted to take her home with her.

Have a great week and thanks for all your prayers. We are so thankful to live in a country with such great access to the help Sarah needs. After being in China we see how blessed we are here.
-Becky

Cool thing today. At OHSU we saw 2 other Chinese adopted girls. One family sat by us and we only had about 2 minutes to talk. We found out they were in China the same time we were (they got their a few days earlier than us)! Their little girl is about 2 and had a palate repair also. I wish I would have gotten their number. It was nice to see them and chat. Thanks Lord for little things like that.

You Farted!!!!

"You Farted!"

That is Sarah's favorite thing to say right now. Taylor has been going crazy with his "woopy cushion" he got last year and they think it is the funniest thing. Taylor loves to sneak up on her with it and she does a great big belly laugh as she says "you farted" and runs away. She is realy picking up the English as you can tell!

Taylor is sick. Fever, coughing, tight chest. We have been doing breathing treatments with him and I sure hope it wont turn to pneumonia again this time. He is being a trooper but having problemss at night. Speaking of that it's midnight and as I was typing Taylor came out unable to complete a sentance. Ok another treatment.

We'll have a great week. Thank you for your prayers. Sarah is realy adjusting well and I am so thankful the Lord prepared her for this. That was my fervet prayer for her before we went to bring her home. She loves the family and is great with other people. No stranger anxiety yet but maybe it will come later a little dose of it would help me feel better about her being safe. Ok got to go make sure Taylor is getting his treatment all right. -Becky

Back to work!

Back into the grove of things (or trying to get there!)

Thad has been back to work for 2 days now! He said it felt like he was never gone. I think the early wake up isn't great in his mind but I think he enjoys knowing that he is doing what he is called to do. I think him being at work is helping me to just get a routine down and start to think about helping the kids with "kid stuff".

Sarah is a little helper. She tells Sydney (the dog) what to do all the time. Normal for a youngest child who gets told what to do by everyone. Poor girl needs/wants some control and someone to boss. She is a great helper. She knows that when mom is cooking dinner it is her time to empty the dishwasher. She loves me tying her little apron on her. She tells me, in Chinese, about the things she is unloading. It is a very animated conversation and sometimes she will just turn to look at me like "mom don't you get it" I say, "yes Sarah oh yeah that's right" and she starts it all over again: putting dishes away and talking up a storm. I have to remind myself daily that she has only been home a month and 1/2.

Taylor is getting better and joking with Sarah with her mocking. It drives him nuts that she says everything that he says. So we have started trying to give him phrases that make him laugh when she says it back. Do you have any good phrases for him; I'm running out of ideas!

We went to the beach for 4 days. It was hard to be gone from home after felling like we just got home but it was good for the kids. They slept in the same queen bed and did it really well. They would go to bed together and wake up in good moods; what a blessing. They both loved the pool and we made it a daily affair. One day we went twice. Both of them love the water and really like to horse around. Taylor is a great swimmer.

Taylor and I started reading "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" book from the Narnia books. It's his first chapter book and he is doing well at listening to the story and asking questions. Thad's cousin Jessie let us borrow it and it's been fun. I didn't realize he would sit to listen like this yet.

Well I better get to bed. Please keep our niece Abby in your prayers. She is almost 18 months old and having cognitive and motor skill issues. There have been lots of tests and even a muscle biopsy but we still don't know the cause of everything. She may now be having seizures we don't know yet. She is just the sweetest thing and is such a content little girl. Please keep their family in your prayers. They have been through this with their little one and so much more.

Have a great week -Becky

Oh what a week (or 2) can do!

Hello from the Routsons
SO we have been home for over 2 weeks and it seems we have been home for a month! Sarah is doing great but still adjusting. She is trying more and more with the English. She picks up the silly words or phrases the fastest. Oh and she is like a parrot, she copies every word if she is interested.

She is so outgoing and so full of life. She wakes up with a smile on her face and a big hug for mom or dad. We went to a birthday party for a little girl her age this week and that was the quietest I have seen her. I knew it would be good for her but it was hard to see her back in her shell. She now recognizes the little girls and tries to give them hugs when she sees them. She went to Cubbies (Wed. night church activities) and said the verse this week (with some help) candy is a good incentive too. She likes being in the room with the kids and playing. It's great since it is the room she will play in for the different activities we do at church. Taylor and her are in the same class too so that is fun to see.

I almost forgot she has Dr appointments on Feb 1st and March 3rd. March 3rd is in Portland and will be an all day affair! This will be a good appointment with the cleft lip and palate team at OHSU.

Taylor is doing good in school. It is crazy how having a little sister is inspiring him to reach to achieve more. He reminds me when he makes a choice not to whine or do something only "little kids" do. Oh we still have lots of those "little kids" moments but it is joy for a moms heart to hear: "I took a deep breath mom and just did it". Sarah sleeps late and Taylor asks every morning about 10 times if he can get her up yet.

I took Taylor to a Dr in White Salmon today to talk about his asthma and food allergies. It was good for him to hear that he needed to eat better and stay away from certain things that are bad for his body (cat, milk, etc). Tonight at dinner her took all the fruits and veggies out of the drawer and said in a matter of fact way, "Mom, this is what we should have for dinner". I loved it! He still didn't gobble up the carrots but he did eat them. Dad and him talked about no more candy, pop and some other things that his body is just not doing well with. Thanks Dad!

Thad is working on the main bathroom. He is busy and he likes to be "at work" with something. I'm thankful that he likes to do the remodel stuff (like me). This project has been fun for the both of us and is the last BIG project we PLAN to do. (ok we still need to paint the house too).

Hope you have a great week and I will try to keep things up to date.

6 days home of "work". The 7th is the day of rest right?

6 days home!

It feels like it has been longer. Maybe it's because life has been full these 6 days.

Friday: home. unpack. Dinner at Canton Wok to see auntie Kelly. Aunt "I E" in Chinese.

Saturday: finish unpacking. Turned pictures in to develop. Grocery shopping with the 4 of us; ran into lots of people. Went to Kelly's to pick up food for Sarah.

Sunday: Thought we would go to church; nope not enough sleep. Talked to family and friends. Took Taylor to Mc D's just him and me. Had Bob and Jessie over for dinner.

Monday: (big day) went to the great grandparents Taylor's (saw Corin and Neils (cousins) and kids; went to Parkdale to see Thad's mom, dad, and other great grandma and grandpa. Played in the snow. Home to my family (mom, dad, sister Ida and their family) at our house for New Years. Stayed up way to late and couldn't sleep until 4:30 or 5 but got to sleep in a bit. Did take 2 different sleep meds nothing worked!

Tues: Aunt and uncle took kids to the park for a bit. Everyone left. Went to Kelly's house as a family for dinner. They are Chinese and her parents live with them. Sarah calls them grandma and grandpa.

Wed: Taylor went to school. Took down "Christmas". Taylor, Sarah and I went to Awanas at church and I hung out with Sarah there. Sarah said her verse at the end of class! (with help of course). Sarah met 2 girls her own age.

Tomorrow Thad and Taylor are going bird hunting.. Taylor is so excited he has been talking about it all evening. Thanks to the Marksman's for letting the boys have some boy time on your property! Sarah and I will hang out at home. Knowing her she will have me reorganizing her room!

Sarah is specific about how to do things; I love it so far. She has been such a good goofy girl. She loves to dance and be tickled. She loves to yell back at people when they say something loud to her; she thinks it's funny and laughs allot. She is out going; maybe too much sometimes?

Taylor seems to have gotten used to her so quick and he seems spurred on to not let her show him up on some things: getting dressed, bath time clean up etc. (some things not). He is doing better with not so much acting out. I think we are trying more to share the praise with both of them. They love to kiss good night and tonight Taylor started talking about how he was not marrying mommy when he got big but how he would marry Sarah.

She will be the firecracker and he will be the sensitive one I think for now.

Hope you all had a great New Year! We are so thankful that she/we are home. -Becky

Time to make Dr appointments and get a US passport to make everything real official.