gotcha day - judah fuxue!

Hard to believe we celebrated Judah's 1-year Gotch Day this week!! 

What a year!  Boy, has God blessed this little boy!

Gotcha Day (actually, night) - December 2010

Lip Surgery - March 2011

Judah's Dedication - May 2011 (courtesy Ben Vanoy)

Summer - June 2011

Palate Surgery - June 2011

Fall - September 2011

I'm TWO - October 2011

London, Millenium Bridge...where we received Judah's referral call July 2010 -
October 2011

summer...

oh, summer...where have you gone???

Seriously!  This summer has blown by -- I suppose because our family was so focused on Judah's palate repair/recovery.  We are now almost 8-weeks post Judah's palate surgery, and his healing thus far has been remarkable!  At Judah's post-op visit several weeks ago, Dr Grant told me to let him run with scissors.  Ha!  Obviously he was being facetious, but I guess it was his way of assuring me that Judah was officially post-recovery!  Judah's palate looks beautiful -- better than I could have imagined!  Thank you, God!!  You would never know that his palate had been cleft!!  And widely cleft at that!  Although, at some point his uvula did fall off--not sure when because obviously Judah swallowed it.  I know...gross!  But I've been told it's not a critical appendage so we're not sweating it.

Although Judah's palate is beautiful, his teeth, well, are a bit crazy!  The two teeth on either side of his front teeth (incisors, canines??) are growing in through his palate--kind of behind his front teeth.  Not sure how that will pan out, but we'll see his dentist in the next few weeks for some insight.  I'm expecting that the misplacement of these teeth will affect Judah's speech development to some degree, but I praying not by much.

And speech...Judah is starting to make a lot of different sounds, as well attempting many new words.  Although his words are hard to understand because he talks like a ventrilaquist.  Not much mouth movements.  I'm sure it's probably sensory due to all the changes his mouth (inside and out) has undergone, but I feel like he'll over-come all that in short order!

Judah is also on a pretty normal diet.  He technically is allowed to eat anything, but we're taking it slow with crunchier foods.  Because he was on soft foods for the first 22 months of his life, he never really had to chew -- so he tends to gag on crunchier/tougher things like crackers and meat.  Even still, he is progressing in this area too!

And, he took his first steps this week-end!!  He has totally mastered crawling, cruising and even climbing, but he's now decided he's ready to walk.  And, oh, is that his personality!  He will decide when it's time for a new milestone...period!  He will not be rushed, when other skills are not yet mastered!!  Such a funny little fella!

And our sweet Micah is doing great!  Growing so fast!  Vince is convinced that Micah's feet will be a big as his in the next few years!  We also celebrated his 3rd birthday a few weeks ago!  And he was all about his birthday this year - so it turned into a week-long celebration!!  He still is consumed with all-things-music, but we have enrolled him in soccer this fall.  We'll see how that goes!  I think he'll enjoy it!  We've been practicing making goals in the back yard, and he's very excited about the concept of playing on a team!  Oh, and how could I forget...he's about 90% potty-trained.  Whoot!!

We'll...I'm sure I'm leaving a ton out, but I plan to be a little more regular with our blog...so I hope you'll visit again soon!!

update: post-palate surgery

Most of you know that Judah had his palate surgery this past Wednesday.  After a few long days in the hospital, we came home Friday afternoon.  Recovery has gone slow -- poor Judah is absolutely miserable!  His surgeon told us that Judah's repair was pretty extensive (more than most), but that's because his cleft was bilateral and very wide!  (BTW- we love Judah's surgeon, Dr. John Grant, and the cleft team at Children's Hospital of AL!)  We'll see Dr. Grant in about three weeks, and at that point he should see good indication of Judah's healing, or foreseeable complications.  Of course, you know what we're praying for!  For now, it's a soft food diet and arm restraints.

Judah's nasal cavity, palate and top of his throat were all reworked (for lack of a better term), which I'm sure is extremely painful -- but he also has a low-grade fever and what appears to be a sinus infection.  Not only is he learning to breathe with a reduced air-way, his air-way is full of snot!  I think the most difficult part for him is sleep, simply because he cannot breathe and therefore constantly wakes himself up.

I've also wasted more juice, milk, pediasure, pedialyte, sorbet....he just is not in the mood to eat or drink...nothing feels right in his mouth.

All that said, he's been a trooper!  I really am proud of him!  He sure has been through a lot in the first 20-months of his life!  Gracious thanks to you who have been praying for him -- you're prayers are felt every day!!

all about judah!

It's been a really, really long time since I've posted an update about Judah...sorry!!!  It's not that there isn't anything to tell...because there is!  But life with two toddlers is simply busy.  And blogging just doesn't make it to the top-few things I try to accomplish during my 1-2 hours of daily peace-and-quite.

So, Judah...

He's doing amazing!!  I like to call him my sweetness.  He's so laid back, and loves to cuddle and giggle -- and he is totally a mommy's boy! He is still playing catch-up -- but he makes progress every day!  We like to joke that he's a marathoner, NOT a sprinter (like his older brother)!  When he came to us in December, he knew nothing!  Literally!  Could not sit up, hold his bottle, feed himself...you name it!  He was a 14-month old new born.  But he's now doing all those things!  He started crawling in April, and he should be walking by the end of the summer. 

They (the professionals) say that for every month that a child is institutionalized, it will take as many subsequent months for them to catch up.  So we're looking at Feb 2012 as our goal for Judah to have mastered his age-appropriate skills (well, minus speech).

His cleft lip repair has healed nicely -- though it will be several more months before the scar tissue is gone.  We are now totally used to his new mouth!  It's hard to remember his precious, super-wide pre-repair mouth, so I'm glad we took tons of pics before his first surgery.

His palate surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday (Lord willing).  Our surgeon, Dr. John Grant (who is AMAZING) said there is a 90% chance that this will be the only palate repair Judah will need!  DEAR FRIENDS- will you please pray with us that this is the case -- that God will heal Judah with this surgery!  We don't ask for healing for selfish reasons, but that God would be glorified!  Judah will still need a gum line bone graft when his adult teeth come in, but that's several years down the road.

Once Judah recovers from his palate surgery, we'll start to hit speech therapy pretty hard!  He's so ready ready to talk (and sing)!  And he already tries to repeat much of what we say!  Some of his words -- mama, amen, I love you -- are actually a little intelligible.

sweetest little face! his little heart is open-wide!

first game of chase with big brother!

update #6

Judah is doing well! I think his post-op pain has paled greatly in
comparison to his not getting to suck his thumb! Which has made for
some long, long nights! Thankfully, he's pretty content during the day!
And I still cannot get over how different he looks! I know he'll be
swollen for a while, but I just didn't realize that his lip surgery
would affect the shape of his entire face. And his face still has no
expression...not sure when he'll be able to smile again. It will
probably take a few months before his muscles heal completely...at
that point we'll have a better idea of what he really looks like.

Day 5 Post-Op

Day 1 Post-Op

Day of Surgery

surgery-1 eve

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Ps 147:3

Judah will have his first surgery tomorrow - the plastic surgeon will repair his lip.  The surgery will last a few hours, and I will stay the night with Judah at the hospital.  However, I'm not as anxious about his surgery as I suppose that I should be.  One reason is because I am anxious about his palate surgery, which will be more invasive and require longer recovery.  A second reason that my heart is at peace is simply because of a knowledge of God's sovereignty.  When I think about how God protected and delivered our children long before we became their parents...well...I am reminded that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.

a few firsts

First Christmas at home!

First hair cut.

First picnic.

 First time to meet Aunt Caroline...and first bridal shower, at that :)

First Chinese New Year celebration in the US.

with special needs

Now that we've been home with Judah for just over 5 weeks, I've had some time to realize a thing, or two...

When we switched our China application from a healthy adoption to the waiting children list, some minor anxieties accompanied that switch.  However because we were open to a variety of special needs, we really had no idea what to expect, so the anxieties were initially minimal. 

Our agency, from the beginning, seemed fairly certain that we would be matched with an infant boy with cleft lip/cleft palate -- simply because that is one of the more common needs.  So I researched cl/cp, but much of the info I found seemed so vague.  I guess that's because cl/cp varies dramatically from one child to the next.  It's not a this-is-what's-wrong-and-this-is-how-you-fix-it birth defect.  Yes - some children's clefts are that straight-forward, but, most are not!

Anyway...

When we were matched with Judah in July...and I saw his sweet face...and his sweet cleft...I began to wonder what this would mean for our family.  What would it be like?  Parenting a child that looks different...talks different  -- a child that needs multiple surgeries, and possibly years of speech therapy.  Would his needs affect my love toward him?  Would his needs be an inconvenience?  Would his birth defects be embarrassing?

Yes.  Let's be real. Those questions crossed my mind.  No. I wasn't expecting the answers to be yes -- but I still couldn't help but wonder what would it be like.

I'm sure most families contemplating a special needs adoption ask themselves those same questions.

Yet, five weeks post- Judah's placement I can answer those questions with a resounding NO!  From the first moment Judah was in our arms, both his cleft lip and palate faded into the background.  It's not that we didn't see his clefts -- we did!  We even did a little poking around to examine to extent of his clefts.  But his clefts were not, and still are not, a distraction. We have no aversion to his sweet little mouth, or to the oatmeal that he sneezes out of his nose every morning!

The way he was born has actually endeared him to me! 
Wow!  Who expected that! ?

And with his lip surgery approaching in March, I now have a new anxiety!  My sweet boy won't look the same -- oh, how I love his little mouth just the way it is!  I love when he tries to give me a kiss, and only his bottom lip puckers out (because his top lip doesn't work quite right).  I love the oatmeal out the nose!!  Never embarrassed by it!!  Love his two crazy front teeth -- the hope of hiding them behind a new and improved lip never crosses my mind!! 

Everything about him couldn't feel more normal, or more perfect, to me!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures- James 1:17-18

eat your heart out!

hello...hello...hello...

anyone out there???

Well.  In case you couldn't tell, I needed a blog break!  With all the newness of Judah, blogging was ruthlessly shoved to the end of the line.  But, oh dear, now I don't even know where to begin to catch you up.

Horrible.
Survivable.
Just OK.
Much better.

How about we skip the first three and just start with much better? 
We are doing much better!  Judah has been home almost a month, which I can hardly believe!  He is doing so well!  As a matter of fact, I laid him in his crib earlier at nap time, and he didn't even scream!  Many of you know this is a big deal!!  He picked up his teddy bear to play (this is even a praise, because at first he didn't even know what to do with a teddy bear), and now I think he's asleep!!
Thank you Jesus!

Judah is still taking formula, but he has begun eating everything that I am eating!  Literally!  Grabbing it off my plate!  Rice, noodles, chicken, bread, soup, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, chocolate cake... I'm so proud of my little fella!  When we were in China he had no idea how to use his tongue, but now he's got it mastered! 

We had prelim visits with our plastic surgeon and dentist, and here's the run-down:
-his lip surgery is 3/2/2011; he's required to stay one night at the hospital
-his palate surgery will take place sometime late summer/early fall
-his gum surgery will take place sometime between the ages of 7-10 (when his adult teeth begin to come in)

About teeth...we're not sure what's hidden behind his gums.  He could have missing teeth, damaged teeth, or extra teeth.  Our dentist will take a panoramic x-ray after Judah's palate is healed, and go from there.  Our dentist feels pretty certain he's missing both upper canines, since that where both clefts are located.  But, who really knows.

Judah can now also sit up!  And he loves being on his tummy, if a piano is in reach!  And he can push-up on all four's and rock as well.  Oh, and swat and kick big brother when he gets annoyed with him ;)

Speaking of Micah, he's adjust fine -- taking aside typical 2-year old issues, like sharing.  No need to go there.  But we are making progress.  Micah also tells me he loves me about a billion times a day -- just needing a little re-affirmation that mommy loves him too!  And mommy sure does!  The one thing that never wearies me is the back-and-forth hugs and kisses!  I never run out of hugs and kisses for these boys! 

We've really come so far in such a short amount of time.  And I give full credit to the prayer of God's people and God's perfect grace!!

Ps 22- All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the LORD,
and he rules over the nations

                          ....as does He rule over the affairs of the Martin family!

emerging

Everyday the fog is continuing to clear -- we are doing well -- healthy and happy!  Here's a picture post (I'll get back to word posts soon):

Last morning in Guangzhou...

After 20+ hours...two flights down, one to go...

We're HOME...

Calisthenics with KC...

First bath together...

Meet America's newest citizen!!!