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Sunday, May 17, 2015

Four months home!

Love you, Ana-boo!

Ana has been home for four months now!
It is amazing to look back and see all the little things that have changed.
She is now SO expressive. She makes coos and giggles when she is content. She "sings" loudly when she is happy. She laughs hilariously when she is wound up, especially when the boys are playing crazy games. She cries, screams, and wails loudly when she is upset. No longer do I worry about not knowing what she feels!
Ana, Mama, Porgies
A month ago I was not sure about her bond with Porgies; she seemed incredibly jealous of him and it was very wearing on me. Now she seems to like him quite a lot and no longer puts up a fuss when I nurse him or read to him. This is a very good thing!
Mama says "Smile, Ana!"

Ana loves "helping" with household chores; doing laundry with Mama or carpentry with Papa. She thinks that the blender, drill, table saw etc. are hilarious and loves being where she can watch projects.
She does not regulate her body temperature well at all which means that we have to be very careful about taking her outside when it is hot (which it is a lot where we live).
Ana enjoys watching rain from the porch.

The past couple of days have been unseasonably cool and wet, so we have spent as much time outside as possible to enjoy the weather before it is not safe for her to be out again.

We don't see big fluffy clouds like this that often...
I love this weather!

Ana has been wearing her "purple turtle" spinal brace for a couple of weeks now, and it has been quite a game changer. It is definitely accomplishing its purpose of aligning her spine and hips, which is awesome for her internal organs (her digestion has improved!) and very painful for her legs.
It used to be when she lay down that her legs lay flat and crossed over each other. Now, with her hips being aligned with her spine, her legs stick up awkwardly-- even with the brace off. She can no longer be two-dimensional. This has made sleepytime difficult, because what is most comfortable for her is being held by me, and I can't sleep like that. I don't foresee this getting easier for a while, so I definitely appreciate prayers for strength, and patience, and maybe even some sleep here and there :)

She is also plumping up quite a bit (so sweet!) which makes her crossed legs more uncomfortable as well.
We will see the orthopedic surgeon next week to talk about options for her hips, and I am really looking forward to that appointment.


On another note, I was scrolling through Reece's Rainbow's newly listed children this morning and saw this little lady:

ella7
Sweet Ella

Would you please pray for her? She reminds me SO MUCH of Ana, and seeing her pictures gave me new eyes for how much progress Ana has made. Little Ella has the same criss-cross legs that Ana has. (Impossible gait, they call it. For some reason that makes me laugh. How can they sanitize something like those little crumpled legs into such a ridiculous sounding medical term?)
She also has a host of other medical issues, certainly more that Ana has struggled with. Please pray that Ella's family would see her and trust in God's provision to bring her home.