Ruth sorting Legos

Ruth isn't building. She is sorting all the little yellow heads and putting them back in the bin.

Christmas Morning

Christmas was exciting this year! Ruth's gifts centered around cinderella. Chloe got a nook. Timon got a rip rider.
We worshipped our savior in the morning and spent the rest of the day with family.

A WOW moment

We just saw on TV at a restaurant that China is testing a 310 mph train in Qingdao.
Ruth was called "Qing Qing" in china, so I guessed at how to pronounce the city name.
I said the city name, and ruth said, "I Qing Qing".

Amazingly the memories she has stored. It always shocks me. After 15 months of not hearing that name, and she tells me!!

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Christmas is coming!

Ruth is so excited! It's going to be a fun christmas!

Cinderella

That is the theme at our house lately! Ruth is infatuated with her! Meme took the girls to see the play. Ruth also got to have tea with Cinderella the week before the play!
Even our prayers speak of Cinderella!

Cinderella

Today was the 1st time in Target that I let Ruth pick out and KEEP a toy! Hard to believe, but usually she is perfectly fine putting the toys back on the shelf.

I lined up these Disney Princess characters, and Ruth chose Cinderella! Needless to say when we got to work today, I took the movie Cinderella in for her to watch. Cute Ruth would change outfits (with help) as the dress was worn in the movie.
Cinderella took a nap, went to the ball game and now is resting on Ruth's pillow.
It was amazing to see how entertaining this small doll could be!

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Littlest Truck Driver

Ruth has finally taken a ride in the BIG truck for the first time. Previously it was too loud or scary, but today she agreed to ride with Granddaddy!
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First day of Preschool

Ruth was excited to go to school today!

However, she became unsure in the classroom of where she was and who all the children were.

I know she will grow to love going because God blessed us with two great teachers (Mrs lisa Jones and Mrs Shannon Barger)!

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Ruth's ponytail

Ruth approved of the ponytail Daddy gave her.
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Gotcha day!

Wow ONE year later.....
We just had a grand celebration with our family and ate Chinese with chopsticks.

Funny thing tonight- it was the first time we ever offered chopsticks to Ruth. She picked them up, held them properly, and fed herself rice, lo mein and chicken!!!

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A YEAR!

We can't believe tomorrow is Ruth' 1st anniversary of GOTCHA Day!
Where does time go?
It has been an awesome year full of blessings.
We have been watching our home videos from China and enjoying those sweet memories!

How wonderful it is to have Ruth in our family.

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The pajama shirt hat

Ruth usually will not let the shirt stay on her head. But tonight, she went with it. Ran all over the house as a pirate.
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Potty training

We are trying this week to potty train Ruth. She looks too relaxed to focus on the task at hand, doesn't she?

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Vacation bible school

Ruth's 2nd night at VBS has been successful! She sang the songs and raised her hands in praise! She also participated so well.
I'm grateful she is enjoying her class and cheerfully (for the most part) going to it.
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First Independence Day

Our Carolina Girl dressed for her first Independence Day. She is at the beach enjoying all her cousins.
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Ruth's first ear of corn

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Luciana Sau

Luciana Sau is a child in Kenya who suffers from cleft palate.  Luciana needs the life-changing medical care that CURE International can provide.  I'm trying to help by sharing Luciana's story.  If you want to learn more, see pictures of Luciana, and even follow Luciana's story, go to this link.

http://cure.org/curekids/malawi/2011/06/luciana_sau/?refid=2215&exp=true&cure_action=EMAIL_SHARE_REF&cure_referrer=021B0985-7342-4C4D-A9D8-518A93124A5F

Janet Fred

Janet Fred is a child in Malawi who suffers from cleft lip.  Janet needs the life-changing medical care that CURE International can provide.  I'm trying to help by sharing Janet's story.  If you want to learn more, see pictures of Janet, and even follow Janet's story, go to this link.

http://cure.org/curekids/malawi/2011/06/janet_fred/?refid=2215&exp=true&cure_action=EMAIL_SHARE_REF&cure_referrer=FAA63CA2-DD1F-44ED-8A46-9FEA30379B62

Mwatiyesa George

Mwatiyesa George is a child in Malawi who suffers from cleft lip.  Mwatiyesa needs the life-changing medical care that CURE International can provide.  I'm trying to help by sharing Mwatiyesa's story.  If you want to learn more, see pictures of Mwatiyesa, and even follow Mwatiyesa's story, go to this link.

http://cure.org/curekids/malawi/2011/04/mwatiyesa_george/?refid=2215&exp=true&cure_action=EMAIL_SHARE_REF&cure_referrer=7399B38D-B438-4D2B-9D44-F147AD99F9B8

We celebrated Ruth's Birthday in a BIG way!

Ruth's 3rd, yet 1st American Birthday was better than anyone could imagine! Many people worked hard to cook, set up, clean, serve and smile! We had bounce houses, slides, sno cones, cupcakes, homemade muffins, and people of all ages.  During the party planning stages, we were impressed to do something of eternal value and have fun that day. Scott & I were familiar with CURE International because of their partnership with Passion Conferences.  CURE does many life-changing surgeries, but we wanted to help children with cleft lip or palate like Ruth. Well, we were so amazed by God at work! We asked that all those in attendance in lieu of gifts to bring funds for CURE International to supply the needed cleft lip surgery for a precious girl in Malawi. So, we set out to fund Mwatiyesa's surgery. God, and only God, stirred in the hearts of our friends and we had exactly enough contributions for not only Mwatiyesa, but to finish funding surgeries for two other precious children, Janet and Luciana! Join me in following their story and praying they will come to know the GREAT HEALER!
 
 

Party girl!

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Happy 3rd Birthday Ruth!

Nine months ago today you were put into my arms! Oh how we love you. Ruth, you have so much personality and we love to see how you change each day!
We can't wait to celebrate this weekend at your party!!!
We love you Ruth Min!
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Ruth at the back door

This is how I found Ruth when I came back from throwing the trash out.
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Night Vision

Instead of sleeping I found Ruth and Timon playing with his night vision spy glasses. They are just a little too big. Ha!

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Craniofacial Team Visit

Just had our first visit with the craniofacial team at UNC Chapel Hill.
Plastic surgeon- said her palate repair looks good. He said no further surgery until bone graft stuff for jaw(like age 7)! There is just a small slit that remains open but not enough to justify more surgery.
Speech man- still concerned that her soft palate may not be moving enough in order for her to form sounds correctly. He is satisfied with 6 more months of speech therapy to see if she is just being lazy with her sounds before he then recommends surgery. He also noted that Ruth is doing more glutteral stops using her voice box instead of soft palate.
Ent person- tubes look great, okay to be in pool this summer. She was concerned the most about her raspy hoarse sounds. She said next surgery will need to include checking out vocal cords. Also said asians have differnt type/ kind of ear wax. Ours is gooey theirs is flakey. So we will still have to deal with wax issues, but using mineral oil periodically could help
Dentist- said she had all baby teeth and then some! We are to just keep brushing old and any new teeth that come. He said we would see him just annual visit with team for few more years.
Oral surgeon- said when doing bone graft, they prefer using hip bone
Social worker- had great new resources online for us to read. Keepkidshealthy.com; cleftadvocate.org; and then we'd been reading cleftline.org
All in all, it was a valuable morning filled with incredible specialists who do care to see Ruth grow and develop like regular children!

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Drinking with a straw

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I do think Ruth LOVES the beach!!!

Her response is so different now than her 1st couple trips last fall. She walks in the sand, digs in the sand, walks in edge of waves, even picks up shells! Today she decided wearing a hat was a good idea.
It only took a couple of minutes before Ruth joined Timon and Chloe to dig a deep hole in the sand.

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Beach fun!!

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A fun afternoon with cousins tires everyone out!

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THE day!!

Today Ruth can drink from a straw!
(Whether she is supposed to or not according to the doctors.)

We are pretty excited to see the progress!!

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Watching TV

It is an overcast Saturday morning, so we are all moving slow. I found Ruth lounging in her chair staring at the "turned off" TV.
I decided to turn it on and let her watch some Barney.
Now for me to get some work done around the house!

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Speech Therapy

Ruth is participating weekly in speech therapy. We are really seeing progress lately. It has been exciting to learn what we can be doing during the week to encourage her to form her sounds properly.
When we go back to UNC in May, the doctors should be amazed.

Ruth tries to copy everything we say and she usually has success with the correct syllables even if the sound comes out differently.

She really calls our family members by name now. She is even excited when Scott comes home and runs to "Ahddy". "Mama" is her clearest word yet! Timon seems to think she calls him "Han", which he says is short for Han Solo. Chloe is "Mack", since her middle name is Makaila.

She has gained all the weight she lost after surgery and overall is much happier this past month. I'm still anxious for her next checkup since they will be able to see how successful the surgery was. I do dread all the future surgeries she will need. My latest surprise was the new tooth she cut in the middle of her palate. We'll see what's done about that soon too.

Ruth is now happy WALKING most places... yes, less hip time for me! That is happening just in time for the ball seasons to begin. Timon is playing baseball and Chloe is playing softball. Ruth is well.... the team mascots!

Magic kingdom

On Big Thunder Railroad roller coaster. We had fun!

Had to be creative finding Ruth something to do and be HApPY while we road.

Otherwise she has loved it all this week. It has been a great distraction to get her mind off not feeling the best.

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Guess where we are...

Disneyworld! Ruth loves all of it!
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Ruth enjoying Disney. First time on It's a Small World.
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Eating a treat!

Ruth had visitors bearing gifts while she napped....
She's eating it now. This is her BIG SMILE!

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Decent night

We survived our first night home.... And now relaxing today.
Ruth will feel like getting up and playing with her toys about 30 min after we get pain meds, and then she's back to resting in my lap for a few hours.
Thanks to all who have prayed!
She is eating baby food and taking liquids by syringe

For fun, I just painted her nails.. This might be a daily thing. Ha ha.

She is making a few vocal sounds. I'm anxious to hear a difference, but she isn't saying much yet.
Time will tell!

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Home Sweet Home

We are thankful to be home. Exhausted, but revived when you can get clean and relaxed in your own home.
Ruth was glad to see Chloe and Timon.
Now, to rest tonight and drink lots of fluids!

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Hungry girl!

Well, Ruth has successfully eaten a snack cup of applesauce and 2 snack packs of jello!
After I looked inside her mouth, I'm amazed she will even try to eat....except that she's probably starving. Her "last supper" was over a day ago.

I will be a happy Mama when no more wires are plugged and I can easily hold my baby!!

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Resting well!
I'm actually now holding her in the bed. Just got another dose of meds so pain is under control.

She is frustrated with her arm braces that don't allow her to bend her arms. But we sure don't want her to touch her mouth. In 3 weeks we bet she will outsmart these "no-nos" (braces).

Otherwise she is the best patient!
She is being strong and courageous!!

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Out of surgery

Doing GREAT!!! God is good!
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ENT surgeon

He just came to speak with us. Ruth had never had tubes and certainly needed them for atleast one ear that had a lot of fluid behind it.
So yeah- she should be hearing better soon for sure!

Well I'm anxiously still waiting, but know that God is present with her in the operating room and acting as a gentle shepherd holding us in His arms close to His heart.

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Waiting room visitors

These special cousins helped to pass the waiting time!! Thanks mary clara, abel and priscilla!
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In operating room

I just left my precious child "asleep" in the operating room!
She did awesome and even did a few "tricks" before she put on her mask like mamas.

She direected her bunny to do the hand motions while I sang "if you are happy and you know it".

Then ruth noticed everyones hats and masks. The charge nurse got ruth's bunny a hat too.

Then it was time for Ruth to get her mask on.

She was so brave and calm. Thanks for praying! Now to wake up calm!!!!
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New outfit

We just spoke with her doctor and she will be going back soon.
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In waiting room still just hpoing our time comes soon. Ruth is doing great right now just happy playing.
She hasn't even complained about no food yet today!

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Let's pray that the palate repair tomorrow will do ALL that it's meant to do so that fewer surgeries will be needed in the future.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

God is in control and all of this is in His plan!

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Surgery time

We just finished pre-op. We have speech evaluation later today.

We are to arrive at hospital tomorrow at 10:30. So I pray we are able to update everyone about 3pm that all is well and that surgery is successful!

She was given a little elephant, so that has kept her happy and busy.

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Ears CLEAR!

That's right! God suprised us when we went for a re-check at the ENT. The Debrox had worked to remove all the impacted wax out of one ear. The other was soft enough they could suction out the wax.
Now we are clear and she can hear my whispers! I can't wait until Ruth gets her hearing retested in March. It should be a big difference from our previous evaulation of "mild hearing loss possibly due to impacted ear wax".

Surgery date!

Well, we got an unexpected surprise call today! Chapel Hill has an opening for surgery on Jan 26th. We took the spot.
Please begin praying for Ruth's surgery to close her palate to be successful and quick recovery!
Our God is in control!

One quick note: yesterday was the 1st time we observed Ruth praying outloud on her own. While Chloe prayed her prayer last night with Ruth on the bed beside her, Ruth began to babble with her eyes closed and hands clasped. She continued until chloe finished and Ruth ended with Amen! I was so shocked. Then she repeated it all while on Timon's bed praying.
So cool to me! Tonight, Ruth "prayed" at dinner. It sure amazes me that she already understands so much English but blows me away that she is quickly learning about our God!!

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Passion 2011 trip to Atlanta, GA

Ruth likes to wear hair bows, so we got her a few new ones for the trip. She tried them all on at once.

Her 1st taste of sour cream and parents who were talking equals a messy face!

Main sessions were awesome! It was incredible to see Ruth worsip Him by imitating those around her. One song included the words "we welcome you with praise". Ruth was signing "your welcome" when I glimpsed at her. I just teared up knowing she clearly understood the praises we were declaring!

Every night was late, and that brings out the craziness in all of us! Ruth was dancing in her new hat before bath time.

She really grew comfortable with the college kids from our church. One afternoon she just walked up to John Lane and almost sat in his lap! She ended up beside him!

What a great time!!!!

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Yes, she was amazed at the finished look!

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Well, Ruth has been sick with a fever since we came home from Passion. I guess we wore her out!
Tonight, to brighten this house up, we let her select the polish color for her nails. Of course it would be pink!
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On the road to Passion 2011 in Atlanta, GA. Well, she is entertained!
After applying lotion everywhere on Ruth and then baby doll, I decided to let her apply chapstick. Yes- baby is greased well and ruth's face can withstand 30 mph winds without chapping!

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