Mother's Day Weekend

This was a very special Mothers Day for me because it was my first with Deanna, the first with three kids, and we were all together. They all surprised me with some great gifts too.
Deanna was very excited to have brother Jeremy home for the weekend. She stayed up late Friday waiting for him and jumped in the car with him, honking the horn when he arrived.
Even though she is recooperating from surgery she was full of energy and thrilled about the little motorcycles Jordan and his friend Dave bought. She couldn't get enough of them, as you can see by the pictures.
It was nice to spend time as a family again.



Deanna has been recovering well. She still has some issues with stitches and incisions in her mouth but this does not stop her from doing everything else. After about 4 days she finally started eating (4 bowls of mac and cheese in one afternoon) but will be on a very restricted diet for 4 weeks. During this experience we have discovered that medications that should cause drowsiness have the reverse effect on her! No wonder the benadryl didn't work on the plane! Thank goodness regular tylenol has controlled her pain.
She has begun to attempt speaking more words and making more sounds but it is clear speech therapy will be essential. Thanks to everyone who called to inquire or stopped by to visit, we really appreciate it!

Medical Update

Tuesday, May 6 Deanna had surgery to repair her cleft palate. It took about 4 hours and required an overnight stay in the hospital. Everything went well but we are having a hard time getting her to eat and drink. She has been offered everything possible but apparently has no appetite. I have resorted to forcing her to drink in order to avoid dehydration and having to return to the hospital for IV fluids. Lack of food and fluids has made it difficult for her to take pain medication.
As bad as this sounds, she is getting dressed each day, playing, running around, and asking to go places. I don't know how someone who hasn't eaten for days can have so much energy! She has continued to amaze us with her resilience and understanding of this whole experience.

Home 2 Months!

We have been home from Ukraine for 2 months now. Deanna has adjusted very, very well. Besides the parties and trips we have settled into a daily routine and she goes to daycare a few hours a week and loves it. She will start pre-school in the fall and will have a year to work on English and speech before kindergarten. She is very attached to her brothers, whom she calls "O" and "E". She is now a big dog lover and wants to stop to meet every dog she sees. Today she blew kisses at a dog at the store! At this time her speech is still limited although she is a great communicator. She seems to understand almost everything we say to her, and is constantly babbling.

Deanna's surgery to repair her palate is scheduled for May 6. We have tried to explain this to her, and are hoping for a uncomplicated and quick recovery. Even though this is a scary thing, we will be glad to have this part over with!

Deanna Sees Mexico

We just returned from a great family vacation in Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Our entire family as well as my sister, parents and their good friends joined the fun. It was a great opportunity for us to have fun and all spend time together. Deanna had a great time in the pool, especially playing with her brothers. She was the only child at the resort so she generated a lot of interest.

She loved the Mariachi bands and several times ended up dancing on her chair and even on the table after dinner. At one restaurant all the employees were watching and some were taking pictures with their cell phones. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the entertainment (except her brothers who thought we shouldn't encourage her "inappropriate" behavior!!)

Bathing Beauty

Deanna loves the pool!!

Playing "catch" with Deanna

In the Kiddie pool

Table Dancing!

"Overwhelming Generosity"

DEANNA AND MOM

GAYLE AND NIKKI WITH DEANNA

OZELLA, LYNN, AND DANIELLE

THE NEW KITCHEN!

SAMANTHA HELPING DEANNA WITH GIFTS

Deanna and I had a WONDERFUL time at the huge welcome home shower given to us by my friends at work. Thanks to my friend Ozella for having the event at her house. Deanna received so many wonderful gifts and some awesome "group gifts" including a play kitchen, picinic table, shopping cart and an inflatable bouncing structure. (She plays with the kitchen all the time and we spent the weekend bouncing and flipping!)
She really loved all of the gifts which was evident by her kissing everything and running around the room to show the gifts to everyone. Pretty exciting for a girl who had never received a gift in her life.
The nurses I work with are very caring by nature, but everyone really outdid themselves! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your friendship, support and generosity.

Fun at the Shower

Deanna Meets the Bunco Gals

Deanna's aunt Lori hosted a special "Bunco" party so all of my good friends could meet Deanna. We had a delicious dinner followed by very generous gift giving session. She was shy at first but by the end of the evening she was her entertaining self and had everyone exhausted. Aunt Lori made her a special Raggedy Ann doll, which I know will be very special to her for years to come. Deanna really enjoyed meeting these special friends of mine, and I think the feeling was mutual!

HOME ONE MONTH!!

Today is one month since we returned home from Ukraine with Deanna. She is so happy, smiley and outgoing you would never think she spent her entire life in an orphanage. Deanna was having a great time today playing outside with Rosie and her doll. She is very full of energy and often entertains us with a dance routine or dramatic performance. Right now she is totally engrossed in American Idol!

Medical Update

Today Deanna had several appointments with the specialists at Doernbecher. Her palate repair surgery will be in May. It will be repaired with one surgery. Her scar revision will be at a different time, maybe within a year. Her testing also revealed conductive hearing loss due to fluid blockage. This will be treated surgically at the same time as the palate repair. This problem is common in children with cleft palate, it was just a surprise to us because she seems to hear just fine. Speech therapy won't start until she is healed from the palate repair. We'll see how she does in the mean time, she is already attempting a lot more speech on her own. All in all it was a good experience. Deanna was a very good patient and I was impressed with the compassion and friendliness of the doctors and staff.

Dress Up

Here are some pictures of Deanna dressing up. She often puts on quite a show.

She does clean up too and enjoys vaccuuming, doing dishes and sponging the walls and windows. Although she sometimes she creates more mess I'm trying to encourage her!

"Best Friends"

Deanna has gone from terrified of the dogs, especially Rosie, to Loving them! She wants Rosie to be with her all the time and has climbed gates to be with her. She has taken over the job of feeding (and overfeeding) the dogs. She also likes to have Rosie fetch, using hand signs for sit, stay, get and drop. We knew it would happen, but not so quickly!

Hanging out with the guys

Deanna loves to hang out with her brothers (and their female friends).

She especially likes their cars and listening to music.

Deanna's First Party

A BIG THANKS to all of my great friends who participated in a welcome home shower for us! Deanna had a great time and met a lot of new people who will be part of her life. She loves all of her new things very much, and we really appreciate everyone's generosity.

Deanna Visits The Beach

We took a short trip to the beach, and Deanna did a lot of things for the first time.

First, she has warmed up to the dogs. On the trip down, I looked back and Tia was sitting in the car seat with her. The friendship seems to be very mutual. She loves to feed Rosie and is comfortable in the same room with her.

We took her down on the beach and she yelled very loudly and clapped her hands. We then had to run with her all the way down the beach. She liked watching Rosie fetch sticks.

Mimi and Grampa joined us in Seaside and she had her first carousel ride and her first ice cream cone. Both were hits.

We also took her to feed the seagulls. She was not intimidated at all and had a great time until the bread was gone and she got bird poo on her hands.

She experienced some new restaurants and has been much more adventurous with food, actually eating like a piggy, but still nothing green.

A great time was had by all.

More Beach Pics

All American Girl

Deanna's adjustment to America has been remarkable. Nothing seems to overwhelm her. She goes to stores and restaurants like she has been doing it all her life. She is very happy!

She really knows what she likes as far a clothing goes. When I show her something it is an immediate yes or no. She definately prefers jeans to any other pants and boots or tennies over dress shoes. Purses and "make up" are her favorites, and she likes to style her doll's hair (while waiting for hers to grow).

She is a very picky eater and not willing to try anything new. She does drink milk and has been known to eat 3 bananas and an apple in one day. She has discovered the fridge and the pantry and we are constantly getting her out.

She seems to understand much of what we say, but it's hard to know for sure due to her limited speech. We will be working on therapy soon.

Overall, everything is great!!

The Big Homecoming

We finally made it home Saturday night about midnight after a 20+ hour trip. Jeremy and Jordan met us at the airport, we were so excited to see them!
The flight from Ukraine to New York was pretty rough. Deanna had a few tantrums due to boredom and barely slept at all. When we got to the New York airport she was bouncing off the walls. We were fearful of a repeat performance on the way to Portland, but she slept all the way.
Deanna took to her brothers right away (and they to her). When we got home we showed her around the house and her room. She was especially excited to see her clothes and was jumping up and down clapping. Of course she then had to put on a new outfit.

Her biggest problem is that she is TERRIFIED of the dogs. She won't be in the same room as them and wants repeated reassurance that they won't bite. We are taking it very slow and keeping them confined to one area.

Deanna is sleeping pretty well and is just about adjusted to our time zone. For anyone interested it is okay to call, we are doing great. Email sharis@comcast.net Thanks again for the support!!