tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66637198952994774092024-02-19T03:12:40.360-08:00Sweet Esther's StoryHere is Esther's Story - from her exciting birth through her difficult first few months. The joys and the pains. Her story isn't finished and her adventures are note worthy, so read her story and check back for updates!Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-65626159441667325992014-07-16T09:20:00.000-07:002014-07-16T09:20:50.173-07:00Long Overdue - Esther's new Sister is Home!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwp6bcSAfVCcui46bYD4O6c-KEXNC-JvxBvPsZ4dU0FPCpMf5TQ1JSX2yo0C5s6EALKit5hDhDW1v1ErfbIXMpgdrku9WwwYTx734OMufpFzU5aOW82qa0UZdGee8ac9Tw_EXOtxCnDes/s1600/4inarow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwp6bcSAfVCcui46bYD4O6c-KEXNC-JvxBvPsZ4dU0FPCpMf5TQ1JSX2yo0C5s6EALKit5hDhDW1v1ErfbIXMpgdrku9WwwYTx734OMufpFzU5aOW82qa0UZdGee8ac9Tw_EXOtxCnDes/s1600/4inarow.jpg" height="224" width="320" /></a>Esther now has two younger sisters....Carese and Christy! Christy came home to be Esther's newest sister on May 18. Esther was not exactly thrilled with the new addition - I think she thought she was just a visitor. She basically ignored her existence for the first month or so.<br />
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Then a transformation began. I started with Esther being jealous of any time that her favorite brother, Reuben, spent with Christy. She's basically climb over Reuben and force him to notice her. This was short lived however. Just a couple of days after this, I guess she figured out the Christy was here to stay.<br />
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The first sign of this was one evening last month that Esther got down on the floor with Christy and they were just interacting. Soon they were both giggling! Within days Esther was regularly interacting with Christy, even spontaneously hugging her. It is so terribly sweet!<br />
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Esther has had a great spring and summer. She loves playing outside. And she's amazing at pumping while swinging and goes so high! For a long time she was great at wearing her glasses, but she keeps losing them now that she is so very, very busy! She spends time in the pool several times everyday - if anyone is in the pool, she wants to be there!<br />
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Tomorrow I am taking Esther to Children's Hospital in Seattle for her dental work under general anesthesia. She has two large cavities that we know of - one is from an upper tooth rubbing on the lower tooth, and the other was where two teeth were pushing so hard on each other that it was impossible to floss between and one tooth actually broke. She might have more work, but since we couldn't get exrays (she does not like to allow anyone besides me look into her mouth) we won't know what all needs to be done until she's under, had a cleaning and exrays and they they will go to work.<br />
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Last week I took Esther in for her pre-surgery appointment and she was such a big girl! She walked everywhere by herself, stayed by my side and waited patiently! Biggest surprise of the day was when I took her for her blood draw. Usually this means she sits on my lap, I hold her arm down and she cries...sometimes a lot. This time she climbed right up into the seat all by herself, I stood next to her with my hand lightly on her free arm (just in case) and she took the blood draw like a champ - no crying, no fighting...just a little flinch when the needle went in. I stand in awe of this little girlie!<br />
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The very day that I first found Esther giggling with Christy, that evening I had all three girls playing around at bedtime in Esther's bed, and I got this amazing video!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-77129453873853280282014-03-20T13:42:00.001-07:002014-03-20T13:42:16.346-07:00Esther is Home + a Little Rant from Me<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3MfZGWzUlHrL3DdBn5CXuQCWQ_GnoyfZtXLeQKZv9VnClXS78r50aUx1WqU7Ob_gX7GqksUqg96RDiS1rxlyHEsGKlb0M66BvRjfyoQva_IzmHzzaFQ3dyMt1s5_1YbB3F6_XEMlk1M/s1600/WIN_20140318_093918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP3MfZGWzUlHrL3DdBn5CXuQCWQ_GnoyfZtXLeQKZv9VnClXS78r50aUx1WqU7Ob_gX7GqksUqg96RDiS1rxlyHEsGKlb0M66BvRjfyoQva_IzmHzzaFQ3dyMt1s5_1YbB3F6_XEMlk1M/s1600/WIN_20140318_093918.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Experimenting with my webcam - Esther loved it!</td></tr>
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Esther's O2 levels improved during the second half of the night and was holding her own on room air (not great, but OK) and I was able to sleep for a whole 3 hours straight! Throughout that day she was showing signs of slow improvements. After consultation he was willing to let her go home, especially since I had shown myself diligent in monitoring her breathing and able to monitor her saturation levels at home too.<br />
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It was so very, very nice to sleep in my own bed, and sleep for 11 hours! I was up every 3 hours for a quick breathing treatment, but had no problems going right back to sleep!<br />
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Yesterday I was blessed to have two people come and visit me! And I was able to finish Christy's blanket and secure all the yarn ends, and then my friend was able to take a photo of it all for me!<br />
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Yesterday I saw a mother asking if other moms feel down when they are unable to do more for their kids than to provide the basics (this was a small group of adoptive moms who have children with special needs, and many of the families have 5 or more children at home). I related to her, as today we are bombarded with pinterest and facebook where people love to show the amazing things they are doing for their children and magaines for mothers and families that tell you that unless your are providing everything for a perfect childhood, then you are not the great parent your child needs, that they are being deprived. Here is my reponse (aimed directly at me as I can so easily believe the lie and fall into this trap):<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 18px;">My rant for today.....Our world today is selling mom's a lie, and not only are we believing it, we repeat it by posting/bragging on ourselves when we can actually accomplish something that is "pin-worthy." A good mom is not necessarily the mom who hosts amazing parties, has awesome craft times with their children, takes them on field trips or takes their kids on epic vacations. I have also believed the lie at times and felt like a failure as a mom so many times!!! But just being with your children for the majority of their lives, being faithful to meeting their NEEDS (not their wants or your wants), and loving them unconditionally is what makes a mother a good mother. My best moments as a mom are not parties and craft projects but caring for them when they are sick, holding them after a nightmare, listening to their dreams, fixing their favorite foods on their birthday. The things that show your child that YOU LOVE THEM - the things no one else sees. Doing things for your children so others will see what a great mom you are is cheating yourself and your child. Just LOVE them day in and day out and be selfless in caring for them. My greatest and most satisfying moments as a mom have been when my children want to spent time with me doing something so simple as playing a board game or just talking about what is on their hearts. Just having your children want you to around is a reward in and of itself, especially as they get older! Spending time sharing yourself, what you have learned in life, and investing in your relations with your child is what makes a mom a Super Star mom! But most of all, teach them to Love God and love others and be an example of selfless humility that they can model in their lives. OK....stepping off the soapbox that is in front of my mirror.....off to my prayer closet for confession time...."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 18px;">That FB status got so many likes and spawned some really good discussion too. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 18px;">Yes, we do need to do our best to parent our children. But that doesn't mean providing everything for your child - but providing what they need, and doing it for them, not for impressing others, but to show your love for them.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.63636302947998px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-12833707004010616442014-03-19T06:49:00.000-07:002014-03-19T06:49:10.651-07:00Musings on a Dark NightThree Years.<br />
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Yep, it's been three years since Esther has been sick enough to be hospitalized. Just 6 days past the 3 year mark and Pneumonia has taken up residence in Esther again. <br />
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This time it happened much faster, but I was prepared! Since her last bout with pneumonia I purchased a new stethoscope and a Pulse Oximeter from Amazon. No, this was not recommended by her doctor, but I knew I needed to be equipped so that if Pneumococcus came around again I could get Esther the help she needs before she became so very very sick like last time. <br />
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After her last bout, our doctor prescribed breathing treatments (albuterol and pulmicort) to be administered to Esther whenever she contracted any respiratory illness. This has been invaluable in keeping her out of trouble! But I still ended up taking her in to the doctor so many times when she was sick "just in case" to be sure that she wasn't going bacterial. That was working well, but a fellow mom of a child with Down Syndrome told me that I could purchase a PulsOx online - I was all over that!<br />
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With the PulsOx and my stethoscope (I listened to her when healthy and when sick and listened to recordings of different breathing tones from an online site) I was able to track Esther's breathing and be able to note changes, both good and bad, when she was ill. The PulsOx really helps as you can't look at a child and tell how well they are oxygenating unless it is really bad, and you don't want to go there - blue lips are terrifying! Even faster breathing/increased work of breathing don't always tell you what you want, especially if you are administering breathing treatments at home, as the medications your child breaths in can temporarily cause increased heartrate and faster breathing - so it can be a false indicator of how your child is doing. And a child relaxed in sleep an look like they are breathing fine, when in reality their oxygen level is low enough to cause concern and you really can't tell!<br />
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Esther developed a cough on Thursday (her little sister had been sick with a cough for about 5 days). I started breathing treatments right away. Friday she had a fever but still was playing almost like normal so I wasn't concerned. Saturday no fever, still a cough, so I continued breathing treatments (I listen to her breathing and us the PulsOx before and after breathing treatments as much as possible). Sunday after her morning breathing treatment her breathing did not clear up as much as I liked and decided to take her in just to make sure I was on track. At the dr appointment, I realized that the prescription had been printed incorrectly and I was supposed to be giving her the Ibuterol every 4 hours ( as it had been in the past) and not every 6 hours like it said on the box. I should have checked....anytime your child's prescription refill comes back with a change that you did not hear about directly from the doctor, please check with the doctor! I had noticed a change on her pulmicort prescription as it said "use daily" whereas before it was "use twice daily" - and yes, that was a typo. People make mistakes, pharmacy technicians make mistakes. When it comes to your child's health, it never hurts to double check, but missing something can.<br />
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So since it was 3 hours since her last breathing treatment the doctor had us administer her next ibuterol nebulizer treatment there in the office as she also noted that Esther was wheezing a lot, all over her chestl both on inspiration and expiration. That helped - not a lot, but her O2 levels were on the low side of acceptable - 94/95 verses 92/93. So she sent us home doing Pulmicort twice daily, and Ibuterol every 4 hours around the clock. I was to take her back in if she got worse, or if there was no improvement by Tuesday.<br />
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Sunday she did good, Sunday night/Monday morning she was still doing well. Her breathing was a little noisy, but would clear up with breathing treatments and her oxygen levels were OK (94/95%).<br />
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Around dinner time on Monday I noticed that she was not wanting to play, looked a little off (red around the eyes), and was easily upset. I noted this so was extra careful when her next breathing treatment time came around. In that short time, she had been watching a movie and seemed OK, but when I picked her up she was warm, quite warm. I listened to her breathing and she was junky everywhere. Her O2 was around 91-92. After her breathing treatment I listened again and the first three areas I check sounded nice a clear, but the last area (her lower right) did not. At first I didn't even heard breathing sounds. Then I heard more of a popping/gurgling and then a little wheezing. Yep, red flags for me. Her O2 had not improved either. I decided give her some Advil (I have found that Advil can help with breathing as it is anti-inflammatory and can help to reduce inflammation in Esther's narrow airways, and her doctor has confirmed this as well as my own research online) and to call the Dr office and put her to bed, hoping that over the next few minutes and a change of position would bring on a change for the better. Nope. By the time I was on the phone with a nurse, she was asleep, 102 degree fever, breathing 50 breaths per minute and her O2 was down to 88 and staying there and that right lower area still sounded wrong. The nurse confirmed my conclusion...she needed to go to the ER.<br />
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We arrived just before midnight and they pretty much took her right back to a room. Long story short, I told the doctor what I had been doing for her and what I had noticed in her breathing. He asked if I was a nurse. I said no, but that I was Esther's nurse and knew her, better than anyone else. I said this with confidence, but I was not "in his face". He thought it was great that I was so pro-active in her care! He said that he was hearing exactly what I had described to him, but he wasn't sure what he was hearing, so he called for exrays and had us administer blow by oxygen to help get her O2 levels up. After the chest exrays the doctor came back and said I had been right on. She had a small area of pneumonia, he believe just beginning, and that she needed to be admitted, and ordered her to be started on IV antibiotics and fluids as she was not interested in eating or drinking (and had not done much of either all day). <br />
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There wasn't a bed ready for us in Peds (the pediatric floor) so we had to wait in ER for a seemingly long time. The pediatrician on call (happened to be the very first pediatrician to care for Esther when she was transported to the hospital after she was born at home and was struggling to "pink up"). I told him everything and he was so encouraging and said that he thought that we had indeed caught this right away and that she might do very well since we were getting the antibiotics on board before the bacteria went rampant. I have to admit I was so thankful that I had been so proactive in her care!<br />
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Finally, around 4 am, we were transferred to a room on the peds floor. We settled in and soon Daddy came to visit and bring us some things from home before going to work. She finally fell back to sleep again just before her Daddy left and slept until around 8 am (she had slept from after the IV placement until just before moving to the new room). I, however, was not able to sleep...as her alarms would go off if the blow by got moved too far away from her face when she would move in her sleep.<br />
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Through out Tuesday, she was wakeful, but content to stay in bed, play with her dolls or watch movies. Her O2 was hovering around 92, but would occasionally drop below 90 so I'd have to do the blow by when that happened. By the afternoon we were no longer doing blow by, so I was happy about that. The new pediatrician on call confirmed that she needed to remain in the hospital until she can stay above 90% while sleeping without any extra O2. I was really hoping that she would do well.<br />
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Within minutes of falling asleep, her O2 hit 84%...alarms set off and I knew I was in for a long night, She pretty much needs to have the O2 nearby to keep above 90%. I have gotten a few cat naps between alarms, but Esther moves a LOT in her sleep. Right now it's almost 1 am and I just didn't feel like trying to sleep again..of course, she's not had her alarm go off more than once while I've been writing! Go figure????<br />
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Until Esther, I was never woken in the night by an alarm clock that I set so I can wake up my child and care for them. This started when she came home (tube feedings via a pump among other things), and has been a part of my care for her whenever she is sick. It just goes against my mothering instincts...it just seems wrong to wake a sleeping child! Thankfully Esther is a good sleeper and goes right back to sleep, and sometimes even sleeps through her breathing treatments!<br />
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Nights like tonight, weeks like this week, test you as a mother. They test you are a person. They test what you really believe. They test what you are willing to do. When Esther's oxygen alarm goes off, I rocket off the "parent couch" before I even know what I am doing. I quickly check to see where the Oxygen mask is and get it in place (all the while that alarm is screaming at me). Then I start shaking if I am not already (adrenalin), Once she is back up into the 90s, I check her blanket, position and diaper. If her stats are slow to come up I check her leads and positioning to see what is interfering. My goal is to be a little of a bother to the nurses as possible without jeopardizing Esther's health - I've heard other mothers crying in the hallway, I heard the other baby's alarms going off every few minutes, I know my nurse is dealing with a very sick baby next door. Once she is doing well I settle back onto my couch and watch her for a while and pray for her if I remember, then I try to sleep again. Only it takes a while for my heart to stop racing. For the panic to subside. And then just when I drift off, or maybe even before that, the alarm goes off again. All I want to do is sleep. I haven't truly slept in nearly 48 hours now. But I have to keep on keeping on. For Esther, Because she needs me to. Because this is what God has called me to do. And to do it without complaint (OK, so I'm not very good at that one, but God is working on me, especially this week! <br />
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You know, in America, we are sold the "American Dream" and commercials yell at us to "have it your way" and have "the easy life." But God calls us to die to self, to live for Him. Two very different world views. When I am out in the public eye like I am right now, I interact with people who can not fathom why we would have so many children. But it completely blows their minds that we would adopt ANOTHER child with special needs. What an open door to talk of God, His blessings, and His amazing Grace! If we Christians are living the American Dream, will anyone ask us why we do what we do? Or how we do what we do? God is glorified when we are stretch to our limits and beyond and are living only by HIS grace as then others will see Him in us and stand in awe at what God can do through mere mortals, even though they don't realize that they are seeing Him.<br />
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So, why did I tell you all this? Because I was contemplating a lot of things tonight. I needed to talk and there are very few people around, even online, to talk to. And then I thought maybe there are other moms out there with children with respiratory challenges that might benefit from what I had learned, or find encouragement in knowing that they are not alone in the struggle to take good care of their children with special needs. Maybe you are expecting a baby with special needs and want a glimpse into your possible future. Maybe you are adopting or considering adopting a child with special needs (YAY!!) and want to be prepared. Maybe you can not relate to anything I have written, but you know someone who does...maybe you can better understand what they are going through when their child is sick.<br />
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I have to admit that after this week (read my blog post from earlier today - 11blessings.blogspot.com) that I wonder how in the world I can possibly care for two children with special needs and how I will do what I am doing right now when one is sick. I don't know. I can't see the future. I am not in that future. And I keep reminding myself that God has called me to this. That He promises the His grace is sufficient. Not for tomorrow. Not for the "What If"s. But for THIS MOMENT. This second. The next breath. I keep reminding myself when I worry or fret about tomorrow, I am on my own and disobeyng God's command "do not worry about tomorrow." As I have heard it said, when the going gets tough, get on your knees, or something like that. <br />
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Whatever your reason for reading this, my purpose is, hopefully, to give a helping hand to others walking down this road or walking with someone on this road. The road of giving for the sake of another. Caring and loving when all you want to do is be cared for and be loved....caring for the "least of these" because that is the job God has given to you. To serve unseen. To give your last ounce of energy without anyone noticing. No finish line, no trophy, but an undying love for you child and a deep appreciation for the gift that your child is, even though others see your child as a burden. ALL children are blessings - especially those with special needs. The blessing is in learning to give when you have nothing left to give, and to hang on tight to your Savior when you are hanging by a thread. God is faithful. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then you too have the promise that He will always give you the grace for any and all circumstances that you find yourself in. Not strength from yourself, but that peace and strength that is given that you can not explain, that does not make sense. It's called grace - unmerited favor. We don't deserve it, but God gives is freely and it is always sufficient.<br />
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If you don't have Jesus as your Savior, then you do not have The Creator as your Father, and you are on your own, and that is a very, very hard place to be when you child or loved one is sick and suffering. If you want to read about how you can have Jesus as your Lord, and the Creator as your loving heavenly Father, please read my blog post <a href="http://mydaughterslisten.blogspot.com/2011/07/first-things-first.html">First Things First (or how to know you are saved)</a>.<br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Medical
information disclaimer</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>1. Credit</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">1.1 This document was
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>2. No advice</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">2.1 Our website
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available, or available at all; or</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>4. Medical
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from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">4.2 If you have any
specific questions about any medical matter, you should consult your
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">4.3 If you think you
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delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice or discontinue
medical treatment because of information on our website.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>5. Interactive
features</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">5.1 Our website
includes interactive features that allow users to communicate with
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">5.2 You acknowledge
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">5.3 Any assistance you
may receive using any our website's interactive features does not
constitute specific advice and accordingly should not be relied upon
without further independent confirmation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><b>6. Limits upon
exclusions of liability</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">6.1 Nothing in this
disclaimer will:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(a) limit or exclude
any liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(b) limit or exclude
any liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(c) limit any
liabilities in any way that is not permitted under applicable law; or</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">(d) exclude any
liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-8916565736263160882014-02-28T09:19:00.000-08:002014-02-28T09:19:16.934-08:00Esther has a New Sister!In a courtroom in Bulgaria, Preslava was pronounced to be our child! <br />
<br />
She is now legally Christiana Preslava Einfeld!<br />
<br />
She is an orphan no more!<br />
<br />
For the first time in her life, Priscilla has a family, parents, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles and cousins!!! She doesn't know it yet, but her life will changes forever soon!<br />
<br />
For the first time in Esther's life, she now has a sister with Down Syndrome! We pray that Esther and Christy will be best friends forever!<br />
<br />
We started the process 13 months ago, officially committed to her on Jan 28. We hope to be taking her our of her group home by the end of March, or the first part of April! Pray for speedy processing in getting her birth certificate, as that is what is needed before we can get travel dates!<br />
<br />
We will be going to bring her home in the next month or so - I'll keep you posted on the progress of course!<br />
<br />
Here's the announcement and her new name!<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K_d0n36WKRCIICA_XW20xcVYAPJZSLmJ4T63t5NTFfq9Ke35jrF8qEfSZtMxohVrwzmbm9p-SNx3PjUDLi9lBcXBeHkh2qvYF6jh2nrDJShk8UTLMToTtL9EEL8EWx8gNOCKJqUjxPmi/s1600/Christianas+adoption+announcement.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0K_d0n36WKRCIICA_XW20xcVYAPJZSLmJ4T63t5NTFfq9Ke35jrF8qEfSZtMxohVrwzmbm9p-SNx3PjUDLi9lBcXBeHkh2qvYF6jh2nrDJShk8UTLMToTtL9EEL8EWx8gNOCKJqUjxPmi/s1600/Christianas+adoption+announcement.jpg" height="640" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-91156238818640573592013-12-31T12:19:00.000-08:002013-12-31T12:19:32.238-08:00Awesome Fundraiser to Bless Many Families!<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I LOVE these products! </span></div>
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<a href="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000923/1401-d3_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000923/1401-d3_2.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.sevenly.org/campaign/reeces-rainbow/">Sevenly</a> is doing a fundraiser again this year for Reece's Rainbow, but this year the proceeds are benefitting families who are waiting to travel to bring their child home! </span><br />
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</div>
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<a href="http://media.sevenly.org/gt/0000922/wis_3637.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.sevenly.org/gt/0000922/wis_3637.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">That includes us! I haven't said much, but </span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">with the new regulations, we are no longer fully funded (we will be needing around $1,500 or more in addition to what we have already raised). But so many other families are far short of what they need to bring their child/children home!</span><br />
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<a href="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000269/0000269-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000269/0000269-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> All the proceeds from this fundraiser will be divided equally between all of the families! Check it out and order some T-Shirts - $7 from each item purchased will go to<a href="http://reecesrainbow.org/category/s14"> these families </a> - these are the "almost home" families/children, and we are only one of many families in this category! <br /><a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sevenly.org%2Fcampaign%2Freeces-rainbow%2F&h=1AQHQgZtK&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"></a></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000038/0000038-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000038/0000038-1.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">These hats are hand knit by women in Uganda</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Over $3,000 has already been raised for these families already! This campaign only lasts a week (I think it started today, but I am not sure). </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000761/112613-06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000761/112613-06.jpg" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">These are made in Costa Rica providing jobs there! </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Please consider<a href="http://www.sevenly.org/"> purchasing something</a>, and please share on your social networking (blog, FB, twitter, Google+) and help these families bring their children home!!!</span><br />
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<a href="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000932/1401-d4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://media.sevenly.org/g/0000932/1401-d4.jpg" width="257" /></a></div>
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This event ends January 6, so don't wait to order!</div>
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #37404e; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-42562155072850558002013-09-05T07:09:00.000-07:002013-09-05T07:09:28.803-07:00Esther is Growing Up!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Vd0DrwzOincRoafLKlE9LUwcTHPtHn3MuHDY-qlV8UzPKvo42mxfQ2j1bmz8RmdgJCWLtYklioQkl48emLmn-bs3T8cLr71lT3QihUnPmo3XXA4mrS8K4dMJXn5ZlIXsZR9vWSR2u-0/s1600/Esther+onPotty+Seat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Vd0DrwzOincRoafLKlE9LUwcTHPtHn3MuHDY-qlV8UzPKvo42mxfQ2j1bmz8RmdgJCWLtYklioQkl48emLmn-bs3T8cLr71lT3QihUnPmo3XXA4mrS8K4dMJXn5ZlIXsZR9vWSR2u-0/s200/Esther+onPotty+Seat.jpg" width="178" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDygvP3dHVjZONNHSeK9XZ8obqSmbt5Ydoay4bMmETUkPLTe-QU2DhD0dD8SlYRuLlhOXfjMaWGZgaEg0TpcKU8Ae92PFLmNl-gm9d5ZB9MGl1PClQy3UILwHqo8QxtvCUBNWX8KrebOk/s1600/Esther+and+guitar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDygvP3dHVjZONNHSeK9XZ8obqSmbt5Ydoay4bMmETUkPLTe-QU2DhD0dD8SlYRuLlhOXfjMaWGZgaEg0TpcKU8Ae92PFLmNl-gm9d5ZB9MGl1PClQy3UILwHqo8QxtvCUBNWX8KrebOk/s200/Esther+and+guitar.jpg" width="133" /></a>Here's a quick update on things Esther is learning to do!<br />
<br />
At camp last summer she found a broken bad-mitten racket and was playing it like a guitar for all she was worth. Recently we found an adorable little tune-able toddler guitar and she loves it!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-ruL4wyIKNp-zj4LaY1Z7nu8WGl5pHwQeH3wE7jB1uZ-QDumldT0pBvG8EqSdId7P6GBhNjHYDgd1R7xI1r4lp-OvQxKAINLdjZaqISGUaZK74nwxo19pQ1blEiqWaNDEp8YV5sZJGs/s1600/Esther+on+Potty2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif-ruL4wyIKNp-zj4LaY1Z7nu8WGl5pHwQeH3wE7jB1uZ-QDumldT0pBvG8EqSdId7P6GBhNjHYDgd1R7xI1r4lp-OvQxKAINLdjZaqISGUaZK74nwxo19pQ1blEiqWaNDEp8YV5sZJGs/s320/Esther+on+Potty2.jpg" width="236" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpJ1scBWMauQYWLIA5M2CRw_22zIx9RcwTYIPgRLnXfiSOm4CaJ1bzXYD59Txya5ff4u9_7NZ7Lvo8Nq5BcmKde8FYV_1rA0gSAx6rj1pQBDrTn0_01XSdg27igJru9XYDhISXgkq3oE/s1600/Esther+at+beach+8-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcpJ1scBWMauQYWLIA5M2CRw_22zIx9RcwTYIPgRLnXfiSOm4CaJ1bzXYD59Txya5ff4u9_7NZ7Lvo8Nq5BcmKde8FYV_1rA0gSAx6rj1pQBDrTn0_01XSdg27igJru9XYDhISXgkq3oE/s200/Esther+at+beach+8-13.jpg" width="171" /></a>She has begun to be dry some mornings, so we began to get her on the potty seat and she has had success most mornings! She loves the routine, and she gets so excited when she has success! She has even begun to tell me when she is "stinky"! This is HUGE!<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmcnti3H6m0qLGeHuWd7gk3_pj0qsV6_ISBAArTXxXtBs2CfUhg5REj6NRFeECYDWkT17xTmgW5jCYM9PJZk353qnYGmomT38wk5jldpN9p2io6UwmQT1E_Oj27km2Hb8xwIbua3WZ3k/s1600/beach+day+8-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLmcnti3H6m0qLGeHuWd7gk3_pj0qsV6_ISBAArTXxXtBs2CfUhg5REj6NRFeECYDWkT17xTmgW5jCYM9PJZk353qnYGmomT38wk5jldpN9p2io6UwmQT1E_Oj27km2Hb8xwIbua3WZ3k/s200/beach+day+8-13.jpg" width="200" /></a>We are also seeing progress in her cognitive development through the Can Do therapy program I am doing with her. She now knows the names of nearly all the photo cards that I use with her, and just this week she was able to see two cards, and then find their matches after I took the cards away! She is also able to repeat back to me some of the sounds for letters! She LOVES working with these cards and gets so excited when she gets it right. I'm so glad we were able to begin this program with her. She doesn't like some of the physical things, but she loves all the attention!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfPeRN8uUfnJwTiR1rKSaP-IkK3I_taiYNh79R5XFf4wO1-LFSCQUrDzQV2ouAe8ArigkevFBfbxwPq0lkdl-iYD4eR5XaRRBkpRYdrfN0gf_YuRIIWAsHOXxApkeMoWjXthPwhBSneo/s1600/Esther+Therapy+8-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisfPeRN8uUfnJwTiR1rKSaP-IkK3I_taiYNh79R5XFf4wO1-LFSCQUrDzQV2ouAe8ArigkevFBfbxwPq0lkdl-iYD4eR5XaRRBkpRYdrfN0gf_YuRIIWAsHOXxApkeMoWjXthPwhBSneo/s200/Esther+Therapy+8-13.jpg" width="166" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Ju9xCy8NTbQMHcHoBtZismCMiiLlkSQUY4Lp8864fSdTpbN7Qjoq6zSYandssMAsdUu6uaN9rE9jw5pC7aSxmoQAvGgxgdISDio8TAQeJ6nNJtecJ8KxVXgFgIu8EwO4pgnEV0-7gS8/s1600/Esther+Therapy2+8-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Ju9xCy8NTbQMHcHoBtZismCMiiLlkSQUY4Lp8864fSdTpbN7Qjoq6zSYandssMAsdUu6uaN9rE9jw5pC7aSxmoQAvGgxgdISDio8TAQeJ6nNJtecJ8KxVXgFgIu8EwO4pgnEV0-7gS8/s200/Esther+Therapy2+8-13.jpg" width="185" /></a>She is talking a lot, but we can't always understand what she is saying. I love it when we finally understand a word that she's been saying for a while. Once we have context, then we can totally understand what she is saying, but many times, without context, we just can't figure it out. Once we know it, sometimes is seems silly that we didn't understand it!<br />
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Esther LOVES going to the beach. We had a little scare earlier this summer when she decided to follow the big kids and got in deeper that she was prepared for and her floaty swimsuit kept her afloat, but she got her head under the water longer than she likes and I was afraid she was going to lose her love of the beach, but our day at the beach and couple weeks ago proved that she is still 100% a fish. She was the first one in and the last one out!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Mn9Ky-uF0_q69weJ2NXQa43spPy6C2b3RlteP0QEZKiAcVf6OdnI-Px2qWxUGfLq0Ve7iNCWHlLlIU6j6zkjfmhL_pjtXGYzjCQFsgpcwIRUxU6M7ZsIbMYc9uX0FSsF2CDxWXd0yNI/s1600/Girls+bedroom2+8-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Mn9Ky-uF0_q69weJ2NXQa43spPy6C2b3RlteP0QEZKiAcVf6OdnI-Px2qWxUGfLq0Ve7iNCWHlLlIU6j6zkjfmhL_pjtXGYzjCQFsgpcwIRUxU6M7ZsIbMYc9uX0FSsF2CDxWXd0yNI/s200/Girls+bedroom2+8-13.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEIuMDg5WJWcbVqbDiLCoIkTxzngd2J9H3R-WdwuPU91dPnPc12yk2OyaEwIoHj3aw6emNS5PdzMby0UZk5gsWDPY9cVe0cF1h_ADq3PxG4Lom1ki32__ziIzB6Y9c5EZNX0WayiuMaI/s1600/girls+bedroom3+8-13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBEIuMDg5WJWcbVqbDiLCoIkTxzngd2J9H3R-WdwuPU91dPnPc12yk2OyaEwIoHj3aw6emNS5PdzMby0UZk5gsWDPY9cVe0cF1h_ADq3PxG4Lom1ki32__ziIzB6Y9c5EZNX0WayiuMaI/s200/girls+bedroom3+8-13.jpg" width="200" /></a>I re-arranged the girls' bedroom this week. Esther was SO excited about the change. I had taken her top blanket to be washed, so it was missing for a couple of days. When I brought it back she acted like it was her long lost friend!<br />
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Her excitement over everyday things is so captivating! I'm sure her birthday this year (in just a couple of weeks now) will be a most over-the-top exciting day for her!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-45495278987341519672013-08-06T16:13:00.003-07:002013-08-06T16:13:50.978-07:00Esther has great Follow Through!She had a great time playing with a friend at camp last week!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMsXTNatBcDOHLK42cf4flm4-ooq6SWiGSRoS6u0-pjdm0-g3joCwGFCKTha3PsP8vI7mCMU01fL47BwFKbb56Nbp7ynIL4pCSBSEO5I8lq0_R87VPqlvlG573pDT1-kpRQ_Ez0sr-oye/s1600/EstherNChrisGreatFollowthrough.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMsXTNatBcDOHLK42cf4flm4-ooq6SWiGSRoS6u0-pjdm0-g3joCwGFCKTha3PsP8vI7mCMU01fL47BwFKbb56Nbp7ynIL4pCSBSEO5I8lq0_R87VPqlvlG573pDT1-kpRQ_Ez0sr-oye/s400/EstherNChrisGreatFollowthrough.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-22848607733473282522013-06-06T00:34:00.001-07:002013-06-06T00:34:46.414-07:00Esther "Can Do" Therapy<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUhgdwVyrw7fAWpGGO8UGF_PXN2h2dtJgnH1Oi-AQ7Y3ATWeAu2u9godVBIy_dyeXLLbAeU9udBJtjgU_Pj5qm6qld3GHGcj1w406WL8WsPb0JC6TkIDZh89Wmz8loYO7jzL10nDC4Kw/s1600/newslide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimUhgdwVyrw7fAWpGGO8UGF_PXN2h2dtJgnH1Oi-AQ7Y3ATWeAu2u9godVBIy_dyeXLLbAeU9udBJtjgU_Pj5qm6qld3GHGcj1w406WL8WsPb0JC6TkIDZh89Wmz8loYO7jzL10nDC4Kw/s320/newslide.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther LOVES to help Carese...<br />far more than Carese likes to be helped, though!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygVGTITMqPNnVItKuL2qPtWBoRxJ8zVYJVZ1g_MPmEfYFhbhwKvD4At5sHp7qEvQf5bDKViNUZNkD1I2e4HbLTt0yGMwcgjneGBmC5hd5iRmlwAGY_GfeOal_rtbIRDPPyV3iORjR_5U/s1600/Estherswimming2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="139" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjygVGTITMqPNnVItKuL2qPtWBoRxJ8zVYJVZ1g_MPmEfYFhbhwKvD4At5sHp7qEvQf5bDKViNUZNkD1I2e4HbLTt0yGMwcgjneGBmC5hd5iRmlwAGY_GfeOal_rtbIRDPPyV3iORjR_5U/s200/Estherswimming2013.jpg" width="200" /></a>Summer has arrived, and with it some beautiful weather! In the past few months, we were given a swing set which is getting a lot of use now, and we got a steal of a deal on a swimming pool (ours died of old age last year) as well. The kids haven't been in the pool much in the last two weeks due to cool/rainy weather, but that all changed this week!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGB9XsAll1Tm7U4PnBJP05OxO_iRS3Fuxc5FSnFIjZtaZjCemWMID1ZsuAR5OHDa_nHmAYbG9TlhsrG85K009DhJitvQcMqZuIFtWgWL90CfGXWq5HQO_Xh6zfteoqlnbjmBn_R80bfjo/s1600/Estheratbeach2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGB9XsAll1Tm7U4PnBJP05OxO_iRS3Fuxc5FSnFIjZtaZjCemWMID1ZsuAR5OHDa_nHmAYbG9TlhsrG85K009DhJitvQcMqZuIFtWgWL90CfGXWq5HQO_Xh6zfteoqlnbjmBn_R80bfjo/s320/Estheratbeach2013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther enjoyed our first "Lake Day"<br /> </td></tr>
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Summer also means "Lake Days." We have some sweet friends who live on the lake, and they invite us over almost every week for some beach time. We all enjoy this special treat! Last Friday was our first "Lake Day" and we all had so much fun. Esther spent almost the entire time in the water, and enjoyed every minute of the day. Carese kept me busy, and it took a while for her to get used to wearing a life jacket, but Esther had no problems with the "life jacket all the time" rule at all!<br />
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Last winter we heard about a neurodevelopmental program that a dear friend of mine had discovered, which had made a huge difference in her child - leaping 18 months in development in just 4 months. The second 4 months did not show this great leap of developmental progress, but there were other extenuating factors. But she had continued to progress more rapidly with this program than with any of the other therapies that they had tried.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJ8EdTHmMKQDzsfjncUr9dBskP7LOGwRPEXK7y87mU6nc-1hnfvEeNIXI9ysp7NwR6fNscPl8dOwnQJrYKrbnj-orliJ7gTpfJHrYsIEs4woXKGdPpmZdROkXiiF7C-WnHOYCYPwQepc/s1600/Esthertherapy1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJ8EdTHmMKQDzsfjncUr9dBskP7LOGwRPEXK7y87mU6nc-1hnfvEeNIXI9ysp7NwR6fNscPl8dOwnQJrYKrbnj-orliJ7gTpfJHrYsIEs4woXKGdPpmZdROkXiiF7C-WnHOYCYPwQepc/s400/Esthertherapy1.jpg" width="325" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther learning her alphabet while getting her hair combed,<br />after getting dressed and getting her glasses on.<br />While we are doing therapy with Esther we have Mozart<br />playing on our stereo for brain stimulation.</td></tr>
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We researched the "Can Do" program, and found out that they would even be at our Christian Heritage Homeschool Convention! Even though it was difficult to come up with the up front costs, we decided that it was the best time to start this program for Esther, as during the summer months I have less on my plate (homeschooling break) and it would be good to start this program before Esther's new sister come homes (her adoption should be finalized next winter).<br />
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Esther had her first evaluation at the beginning of May, and at that time I was also taught everything I needed to know to implement the program that they custom designed for Esther. We will be sending in updates every two weeks and later every month. We will have her re-evaluated every 4 months (that is how often they are in our area). <a href="http://ican-do.net/about-us/our-services/21-our-locations"> Can Do services 8 states</a> (WA, ID, CA, ND/MN, MI, OH and NY) and families drive a long way to use their services. Thankfully, we only have to drive about 1 hour away!<br />
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Here are some photos of Esther's therapy!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3c4MXLLK6rX23JrdhcbzNPY8Sz2QC_RSryL1fg1p_WjH-VjwCbC8hq8S1Y68D5d_u8Plke2V5ijTvYxKuKjGP2N4IG2yl8CFIx89jTXecjfrElT6Tr5QJKkt8vQa5DE6hFqNAs_2nNto/s1600/Esthertherapy2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3c4MXLLK6rX23JrdhcbzNPY8Sz2QC_RSryL1fg1p_WjH-VjwCbC8hq8S1Y68D5d_u8Plke2V5ijTvYxKuKjGP2N4IG2yl8CFIx89jTXecjfrElT6Tr5QJKkt8vQa5DE6hFqNAs_2nNto/s400/Esthertherapy2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther leaning animal sounds while getting deep pressure massage<br />to her hand/arms/feet/legs.<br />Jessica is doing the massage in this photo.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZpYuUaVQFgb3BWuCCECw6ypLNHOUxITEGFUpBSTq1VmjTsynnP12BEj1w10bnjCI43Nv0qbcRozJ0NSxfSVrWvaPlTGJwFlbsOTjgRWIgxVdl8M9MCvUSl50bSacI4cgDn0dnsiSOc8/s1600/Esthertherapy3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZpYuUaVQFgb3BWuCCECw6ypLNHOUxITEGFUpBSTq1VmjTsynnP12BEj1w10bnjCI43Nv0qbcRozJ0NSxfSVrWvaPlTGJwFlbsOTjgRWIgxVdl8M9MCvUSl50bSacI4cgDn0dnsiSOc8/s400/Esthertherapy3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our therapy checklist for the week, and her daily meds/supplements<br />most of which go into her yogurt.<br />The penny bank and pennies is for fine motor skills <br />- she has to pick up the pennies and put them into the bank!<br />That is Daniel's job - to help Esther with this therapy.<br />You can also see "bite tubes" in a baggy.<br />The bite tubes are part of her mouth stimulation and for<br />strengthening her jaw for better speech later.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd_KEgVwwxZRR-Z0_Qypimq40TA1enWtL_wy8C2ojOBeuczKqYr2WBWh2Dum3u34wwUK9qW4atb7rWuRBPnropunb60Bb72ptN13fXxr9RZNs9Ljpk1hhVJNlUAlXURcTOWeEdFzyL7fE/s1600/Esthertherapy4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd_KEgVwwxZRR-Z0_Qypimq40TA1enWtL_wy8C2ojOBeuczKqYr2WBWh2Dum3u34wwUK9qW4atb7rWuRBPnropunb60Bb72ptN13fXxr9RZNs9Ljpk1hhVJNlUAlXURcTOWeEdFzyL7fE/s400/Esthertherapy4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther gets a vibration massage to her hands a feet while she eats her yogurt<br />this helps develop her brain/body connection to help her overcome<br />her high pain tolerance and prepare her for potty training.<br />Here Rachel is working with Esther</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVdGmp6KpywVa5jRHYWBC1H26c1KjlvGXQfT6OIhardMm6cELhV5O7fZzHY4KtPFU0pO_jwyPNjgbhCJ-7eF0IOnVil1kSMRKEiY_jQaWVpcGZWHxRogegCQQzIwmseH7RB56k7EDdIs/s1600/Esthertherapy5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVdGmp6KpywVa5jRHYWBC1H26c1KjlvGXQfT6OIhardMm6cELhV5O7fZzHY4KtPFU0pO_jwyPNjgbhCJ-7eF0IOnVil1kSMRKEiY_jQaWVpcGZWHxRogegCQQzIwmseH7RB56k7EDdIs/s400/Esthertherapy5.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther's memory cards. She is learning the names of the items on the cards<br />both to say them and to point them out on command.<br />She can only do one at a time, but we are working to help her be able<br />to point to two in a row and then three, and then four.<br />You can see Carese is also at the table "playing" therapy.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCKylLRm7iSCMTUaGyo2rMps_0oyTsKpfp_RVVlPb8c-770548FJSy-bbx7L1znlUAraIpV2bXemGhYtxZNPymcOKvHmpGkcOzox1esqYrAfOCXbhU3Hu4uE-lc0Kj8lAXSoq02INRDQ/s1600/Esthertherapy6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsCKylLRm7iSCMTUaGyo2rMps_0oyTsKpfp_RVVlPb8c-770548FJSy-bbx7L1znlUAraIpV2bXemGhYtxZNPymcOKvHmpGkcOzox1esqYrAfOCXbhU3Hu4uE-lc0Kj8lAXSoq02INRDQ/s400/Esthertherapy6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These are photo cards that I made. There is the word for the item in the photo on the back<br />We show her the word, and then the photo, and then the word again<br />She loves these cards and is saying more words now, as well as<br />pointing to the object in the photos!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkt7iW-MBe6053RDVxojZs3f3_2V7CDZ53RRGYPG02ResDN1rtewwjkOTop4zaaqOF3fsdgUrX9qDAr_GLBYVDKN1Oos9UUiz3cUnQv0qoV1w7lbAQk0H4liuwYtakjQqHNSWArWaTsR8/s1600/Esthertherapy7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkt7iW-MBe6053RDVxojZs3f3_2V7CDZ53RRGYPG02ResDN1rtewwjkOTop4zaaqOF3fsdgUrX9qDAr_GLBYVDKN1Oos9UUiz3cUnQv0qoV1w7lbAQk0H4liuwYtakjQqHNSWArWaTsR8/s400/Esthertherapy7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dayton is helping Esther learn her numbers.<br />All the children (except Carese) help Esther with different parts of her therapy<br />as each child is able - it's their "school" for the summer!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9n8NIRM-RECVvtW2N2T1Int_GwuarNiCdsgRzGN_DcQtAxSXjWNIm2E-5RJEIZldGaHfdTiRj-SUMGgXOKmzKERDsKyQHhPBa2rXReG16rrv2DcT1tA5unV5BQZU48Hfq9AmCSRmOcG8/s1600/EsthertherapyCarese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9n8NIRM-RECVvtW2N2T1Int_GwuarNiCdsgRzGN_DcQtAxSXjWNIm2E-5RJEIZldGaHfdTiRj-SUMGgXOKmzKERDsKyQHhPBa2rXReG16rrv2DcT1tA5unV5BQZU48Hfq9AmCSRmOcG8/s400/EsthertherapyCarese.jpg" width="387" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Carese - she stole this sucker/sponge that we use for mouth stimulation with Ether<br />She loves these (she's been teeting)<br />We use this with Esther,one is dipped in very warm water and swished around in Esther's moujt<br />The other one is put in very cold water and we alternate between the two.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Esther has many other therapies, but I'll save those for another post!<div>
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<div>
If you want to check into this program, check out their website - <a href="http://ican-do.net/">Can Do</a></div>
<div>
They are a christian company who focus on teaching parents to work with their children at home to enable their children to reach their greatest potential - it's for children with any disabilities, even ADHD, dyslexia and Autism!<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-6737576359251371752013-04-01T21:15:00.001-07:002013-04-02T03:15:42.824-07:00Ahem...and now for public release!A video to tell our story - our journey to adoption<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/mzQiIR4T_ok?rel=0" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
Feel free to share this as I think this could be a tool used to get the word out that these children need homes and families to love them!<br />
<br />
Here are the blogs of the families represent in our journey:<br />
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http://carryyourlight.blogspot.com/<br />
http://www.fryefamilyfive.com/<br />
http://theblessingofverity.com/<br />
<br />
<br />
Prolife means more than just preventing abortion, it means promoting all life, even those who are abandoned or rejected at birth! Not all are called to adopt, but anyone can support an adoptive family or advocate for these children who are hidden away from the world and left to die.<br />
<br />
And don't forget - we have 31 days left to build up our funds to make the most of our matching grant!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-77478430164709721672013-03-27T10:33:00.000-07:002013-03-27T10:33:04.149-07:00Esther has New Glasses<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tmCm_ZsMDLtJzAb4LrDHjYMqpx2lfQYxlKjUq7oka5dp-L3J3oBaV0Fn01fdBoi2ZGEU9ESoQOHq8PUNeCU7FB2CFAI6hrC727pD1IGowQ-wEk2ARM6uF7TMQ8o4KukVv-zLnQwORKM/s1600/esthersglasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_tmCm_ZsMDLtJzAb4LrDHjYMqpx2lfQYxlKjUq7oka5dp-L3J3oBaV0Fn01fdBoi2ZGEU9ESoQOHq8PUNeCU7FB2CFAI6hrC727pD1IGowQ-wEk2ARM6uF7TMQ8o4KukVv-zLnQwORKM/s320/esthersglasses.jpg" width="214" /></a>We took her to a new eye doctor recently. The new doctor found that Esther's eyes needed much stronger correction. Not only that, but that Esther needs to where her glasses as much as possible or she might have her eyes get weaker!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbEktNiC6nV3wHU_Kdtdhz7ala3S-eqtSOsIYHe4zGLtSplUV6wWRt8j6Rhjg4GUXk_O8qyabzmeKsWbbHyApoiU4KkoJLGEZ9h3nYHAfHTth8M0LWrGqllhDNVLupgVjPbWtAKB3SZw/s1600/esthersglasses2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRbEktNiC6nV3wHU_Kdtdhz7ala3S-eqtSOsIYHe4zGLtSplUV6wWRt8j6Rhjg4GUXk_O8qyabzmeKsWbbHyApoiU4KkoJLGEZ9h3nYHAfHTth8M0LWrGqllhDNVLupgVjPbWtAKB3SZw/s320/esthersglasses2.jpg" width="291" /></a>So we have two sets of new glasses, and we have rigged up a way to keep them from being lost. To help prevent them getting broken, we paid a little extra and got titanium based frames, called "flexi-frames". So far, so good. She's had her glasses for nearly a month and they only thing she has broken is some of the soft plastic on the nose piece! She has also only lost them a few times, but not for long and it was not always her fault (the fault lies with the person who takes them off ;).<br />
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She likes wearing them - I think they are far more helpful that her last prescription!<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-50528953445775465892013-03-16T22:07:00.000-07:002013-03-16T22:07:07.474-07:00You'd Better Not Watch This<br />
or it might make you want to have a child with Down Syndrome in your family!<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9VG7dh5W40I" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
If God has blessed your family with a love one with Down Syndrome, then Praise God! If He hasn't....yet...maybe it's time to see if you can adopt one!<br />
<br />
Reece's Rainbow can help! Check out their "<a href="http://reecesrainbow.org/category/movingmountains/sizeable-grants-10000">Children with Sizable Grants</a>" page!<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08886358825163341179noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-25694508115089123732013-01-19T09:33:00.000-08:002013-01-19T09:33:00.334-08:00Esther's Tonsilectomy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuL0dk3jsXVnvRg8t8y-K9ClDMW1CTC5BEGj-dcYghrNqh9NKnVB5f9W_i6-6VUYb01XDS_AWIdPiDPyOup_ySgHeWTE9yykFZgMdrL0iXjYIC7Z6mb4uHzU1dfwmzTP6n32dZxURq6V2/s1600/Estheratsurgerylobby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtuL0dk3jsXVnvRg8t8y-K9ClDMW1CTC5BEGj-dcYghrNqh9NKnVB5f9W_i6-6VUYb01XDS_AWIdPiDPyOup_ySgHeWTE9yykFZgMdrL0iXjYIC7Z6mb4uHzU1dfwmzTP6n32dZxURq6V2/s400/Estheratsurgerylobby.jpg" width="400" /></a> Esther underwent surgery on January 7 for having her tonsils and adenoids removed. She had this done at Children's Hospital in Seattle. It went amazingly well. I'm so glad we did have it done there as she did struggle a lot with post-surgery pain. They were amazing there.<br />
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We arrived a little early, but they said that the surgery team was ahead of schedule, so we didn't wait long. Esther got to look at the fish tanks (her favorite thing to do at Children's), and play on the Wii with her daddy for a few minutes and then we were called back to the prep room.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3T8t_ciksj-mPyQfub_S0lnJjHAwMmA4MQ9ydLbvFmy_d9asU7x_0qaboMtvJE-T1Gb9d8Sa-uuBH9CcmvX4G9hsKn2fClZdQ2xwmKi0c3j-cGc_be_l4PPx1mtHXadnkkB-raILDu_w/s1600/EstherplaysWiiatchildren's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM3T8t_ciksj-mPyQfub_S0lnJjHAwMmA4MQ9ydLbvFmy_d9asU7x_0qaboMtvJE-T1Gb9d8Sa-uuBH9CcmvX4G9hsKn2fClZdQ2xwmKi0c3j-cGc_be_l4PPx1mtHXadnkkB-raILDu_w/s400/EstherplaysWiiatchildren's.jpg" width="400" /></a>In the prep room, we talked with them about her allergy to polyester (all the gowns there were polyester), and we decided it was best for her to just wear the shirt she had on through the surgery. We were fine with that as it was not a new shirt and her comfort was more important than that!<br />
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She was actually all excited about everything. You see, for the past few months we have rarely taken her anywhere in order to keep her healthy for this surgery. So not only was she "out and about" but she also had mommy and daddy all to herself. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjcqroOwCXHkeA9oMDLPssAyXO3EdUdmxTjaZskfJSiLUvt1p1ABJhIfRPeVRz8Uxp0Bq4bjVb__CiDbM08xZrjKi6FOyFwqq9Z85LAAh7I-Ubg8QjvCkHdbumHoxikNHgrTpV4Do6lOt/s1600/Estherpreppedforsurgery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjcqroOwCXHkeA9oMDLPssAyXO3EdUdmxTjaZskfJSiLUvt1p1ABJhIfRPeVRz8Uxp0Bq4bjVb__CiDbM08xZrjKi6FOyFwqq9Z85LAAh7I-Ubg8QjvCkHdbumHoxikNHgrTpV4Do6lOt/s320/Estherpreppedforsurgery.jpg" width="320" /></a>She was loving it! She loves meeting new people too - she waves her little wave and says "hi" to each new person who came into her room. She liked getting a bracelet to wear and playing on mommy's new "tablet." <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-uA9aIhFgsD9IcM1sYbTZL8IfPKOTTjfi9YETf1V2bkRvb_UhIzbBGeuU-Ak6-O9x2hN01y0cgKppJjuT5gGaN-9SsVPJc7uRIaIxyob_rGaeMSwIv-rH0NIcA-QemLiJEI4N00maxiY/s1600/Esthergoingtosurgerywithdad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-uA9aIhFgsD9IcM1sYbTZL8IfPKOTTjfi9YETf1V2bkRvb_UhIzbBGeuU-Ak6-O9x2hN01y0cgKppJjuT5gGaN-9SsVPJc7uRIaIxyob_rGaeMSwIv-rH0NIcA-QemLiJEI4N00maxiY/s320/Esthergoingtosurgerywithdad.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It had been decided that I would accompany her to the OR, but the "gown" they brought was pants, and I was wearing a skirt. We decided to have daddy bring her back instead. She thought it was all just a lot of fun - she had no idea what was in store for her, poor girl!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvyYMYZMdnO9xZtlcubwj9FYeBdMq87QQ-3D-acBU-PI_IclUCpklWQWtdWFuJ4-0tKvvKlzR40Zlv47XvBtqYVDGRyskSXDYuUcP_nU2qacjjFo3i-OQmyNXnIn18MEptrs4LMaOpX_T-/s1600/Estheriwithmomaftersurgery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvyYMYZMdnO9xZtlcubwj9FYeBdMq87QQ-3D-acBU-PI_IclUCpklWQWtdWFuJ4-0tKvvKlzR40Zlv47XvBtqYVDGRyskSXDYuUcP_nU2qacjjFo3i-OQmyNXnIn18MEptrs4LMaOpX_T-/s320/Estheriwithmomaftersurgery.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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Here is Esther in a big bed with mommy to comfort her after the surgery. She was very quiet and groggy at first. She liked to just snuggle with mommy and watch a movie. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJo80wBHN_v7cST7kodCmXjmg60btWKlR3rtx7MVrAspq0kF7aIIO7Wgj1yzIHxcmiwS4vdUHZ9CwM6_9INBE58pdAf9OEx2pTbG_4z1nJOGhY4qeVey7qLYQ3RJ9rD33CvUmUQMRBWh-/s1600/Estherinpain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJo80wBHN_v7cST7kodCmXjmg60btWKlR3rtx7MVrAspq0kF7aIIO7Wgj1yzIHxcmiwS4vdUHZ9CwM6_9INBE58pdAf9OEx2pTbG_4z1nJOGhY4qeVey7qLYQ3RJ9rD33CvUmUQMRBWh-/s320/Estherinpain.jpg" width="240" /></a>After a little while the nurse removed the IV as Esther had already drank some juice. They also gave her some ibuprofen As the morphine began to go away, we noticed that Esther's eyes were all red, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. We consulted with the nurse and we determined that this was her reaction to pain, so we added Tylenol That didn't help either so we ended up having to give her Oxycontin in order to get the pain under control. <br />
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It was so sad to see her laying there, no complaining but having tears rolling down her cheeks from the pain. Such a sweet, sweet little girl!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHP6m4qbXwS6ggOQiExQOxjvxlOPMhpUIPmwISPnLy-iCKa9evpHk0kPMbr_RKXHTIGQTowmgixyz087QKdbrNHv4U-UoyK97FHAGJWm8IixTfgZf2xVsy9I7hpEfjQAPcLqhM35tgqcT/s1600/Estherspopsicle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHP6m4qbXwS6ggOQiExQOxjvxlOPMhpUIPmwISPnLy-iCKa9evpHk0kPMbr_RKXHTIGQTowmgixyz087QKdbrNHv4U-UoyK97FHAGJWm8IixTfgZf2xVsy9I7hpEfjQAPcLqhM35tgqcT/s320/Estherspopsicle.jpg" width="241" /></a>The first day and night were basically keeping her pain to a minimum and trying to get her to drink. At first it went well, but the next morning it was a little difficult to get her to drink or eat, so we tried a Popsicle When Esther was little, she had problems with aspiration due to swallowing difficulties, so she was never given a Popsicle So this was something very new to her and she really didn't want anything to do with it!<br />
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I ended up putting it in a cup. After a while, I started scrapping off the Popsicle and feeding it to her by spoon, like a slushy. That worked! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4K7KHHTbLocMnRAXviGnwG3bddfjEwsaWwQK6mCa_rjsix3ZxgqJbNlojZvDs2LNkQuqYx13pehf-L_IAs6MGQM_7CAB-6Kwg5fsJNFHuNy8tJtB1kSLNnj_0vMid0KMaz4OJ4LdAcGx7/s1600/EstheratChildrensplayroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4K7KHHTbLocMnRAXviGnwG3bddfjEwsaWwQK6mCa_rjsix3ZxgqJbNlojZvDs2LNkQuqYx13pehf-L_IAs6MGQM_7CAB-6Kwg5fsJNFHuNy8tJtB1kSLNnj_0vMid0KMaz4OJ4LdAcGx7/s200/EstheratChildrensplayroom.jpg" width="150" /></a>It was just a couple of hours and she was feeling much better and wanted out of bed. She wanted to leave now. She even ran out of our room once and I had to chase her down! We got the go ahead to be discharge, so Daryl took her to the play room for play until the discharge paperwork was done.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAh5tAdFYrkrkOOE2MdxLntITobJ6h_1uwy7zLNXsCZkcFlTj8t0-_RBsX03FRo6PRc9fbeLdV-PiSZonPrB_dOY03aKqHpxyXX4raba8tUr_PW0acscVDpsfi1xNMPqfhR5lB03vV-ge/s1600/Estherbackhome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAh5tAdFYrkrkOOE2MdxLntITobJ6h_1uwy7zLNXsCZkcFlTj8t0-_RBsX03FRo6PRc9fbeLdV-PiSZonPrB_dOY03aKqHpxyXX4raba8tUr_PW0acscVDpsfi1xNMPqfhR5lB03vV-ge/s320/Estherbackhome.jpg" width="240" /></a>She did great on the drive home,sleeping for quite a bit of the ride.<br />
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She was thrilled to be home and was very playful for a little while, but she over did it and was very ready to lay low for the rest of the day/evening watching movies!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTq1oc76Us2Ux3X3QqHUMy11hQPwgU3-917eDoAEkJRZ81FitTmzV7EeL7lmCvWx8I5k2-9P6IwexFmC3DsUr4Twa_0A5vX0jSmUrCSWACb6ctdwBdObOqGmvvXkR6zrX2NLpbGtgrLp80/s1600/Esther4daysaftersurgery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTq1oc76Us2Ux3X3QqHUMy11hQPwgU3-917eDoAEkJRZ81FitTmzV7EeL7lmCvWx8I5k2-9P6IwexFmC3DsUr4Twa_0A5vX0jSmUrCSWACb6ctdwBdObOqGmvvXkR6zrX2NLpbGtgrLp80/s320/Esther4daysaftersurgery.jpg" width="240" /></a>The first week was tough. She really needed all the pain meds and developed some really junky breathing. I used essential oils, both topically and diffused in the room, to help c\open her airways and boost her immunity. I also was giving her an herbal remedy for immunity enhancement called "Immune Boost 2" that I had ordered from T-Tapp. We also did breathing treatments for a few days as I did not want her to get pneumonia again!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIc-5db1BSxarZquWh7umqK-IiCaF1Wa7qC_NtQK6rII3_CbdJNIuFmC7jt4evIVSynqxE4L02x2QKA6TrbelWDaBL6vp3x8SV3k6Z2WkkLa4Eq57jCTkkksQavhprPVQMChuTAeee5XE/s1600/mydishwasher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNIc-5db1BSxarZquWh7umqK-IiCaF1Wa7qC_NtQK6rII3_CbdJNIuFmC7jt4evIVSynqxE4L02x2QKA6TrbelWDaBL6vp3x8SV3k6Z2WkkLa4Eq57jCTkkksQavhprPVQMChuTAeee5XE/s400/mydishwasher.jpg" width="300" /></a>By day 10 she began to be her old self. Grabbing her coat and asking to go outside, grabbing an apron and asking to help with dishes and grabbing hands to lead her "helpers" to show them what she wanted to do. It is so nice to have our old Esther back.. Or should I say "new and improved" Esther back. She has more energy and zest. This is good and bad! Great for Esther, but now we have to be on our toes more to keep her out of trouble!<br />
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I'm so glad we went ahead with this. You can hear that her breathing is unrestricted. She sleeping really well at night. I don't have to diffuse oils at night in her room in order to have her sleep through the night anymore (that gets expensive!). <br />
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And best of all - she gets to go out and about again! We haven't taken her anywhere yet, but tomorrow we are all going to church for the second time since the beginning of September! I am looking forward to filling an entire pew once again!<br />
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<br />Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-2092165687364006332013-01-03T22:04:00.000-08:002013-01-03T22:04:10.840-08:00Esther's 4th Christmas Season, Plus Surgery on MondayEsther had a wonderful Christmas season. She loved all the fun activities. She was, however, getting very tired of not going places. We've been keeping her home to try to prevent her from getting sick. And so far it's worked! She loves to go places, so this was a hardship for her. She would see someone getting ready to go, and she'd get her coat and boots on and get so excited, but end up crying when she was not taken with. Poor Esther.<br />
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So here are some photo highlights of her enjoying the season:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1bIJZhLP1v5SY4lqOJnd_s0nQ7_TmopdmS0PkECdxy8xCdU9rwduFVnJZKgkmfXrMTK4AijepBXe75qK36duhTkW84LRbcZx_ie3mpR8kuUXni-fTCK8caNEOyE2pytHkCxTGnOt12Y8/s1600/Esthersortingvitamins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1bIJZhLP1v5SY4lqOJnd_s0nQ7_TmopdmS0PkECdxy8xCdU9rwduFVnJZKgkmfXrMTK4AijepBXe75qK36duhTkW84LRbcZx_ie3mpR8kuUXni-fTCK8caNEOyE2pytHkCxTGnOt12Y8/s320/Esthersortingvitamins.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther loves to help fill my vitamin organizer. Elizabeth helped out this time!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ORNlAHMLpY6nRD0oZo97UuGLTDb0Od325kPsDuFJSgXthLpVf3lfD52_eg5uehClP5L23hvfgthEClIFtlq_E-WeCCjfNUfJl1skED4R7fcp8FPPP_jnUfaDtEJPmGi7zx3rhsMbBR75/s1600/Esthecookies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0ORNlAHMLpY6nRD0oZo97UuGLTDb0Od325kPsDuFJSgXthLpVf3lfD52_eg5uehClP5L23hvfgthEClIFtlq_E-WeCCjfNUfJl1skED4R7fcp8FPPP_jnUfaDtEJPmGi7zx3rhsMbBR75/s400/Esthecookies.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther frosted one cookie and then went to eating all the chocolate chips!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOv3RXry2p1OBgsRK8UWsqQShlO024x7teCkHyoG2MagvJCsj6vwi479Y946XfIiW7G_y45RTtH4jUjjxOPUjUtdmUwQJYx-F8ezgM1pzUs6DoNz8M0FnTX4moI8Of_buV9L2S9E_oFiZ/s1600/ChristmasGifts1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOv3RXry2p1OBgsRK8UWsqQShlO024x7teCkHyoG2MagvJCsj6vwi479Y946XfIiW7G_y45RTtH4jUjjxOPUjUtdmUwQJYx-F8ezgM1pzUs6DoNz8M0FnTX4moI8Of_buV9L2S9E_oFiZ/s400/ChristmasGifts1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther and Carese opening gifts!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNByCOvH_96Q62Vi8pLWiLKVJmz0JxzklAisOkmv6hKsj9OubQh3CEQQ-f1AYypyZWUVLQMhixWSUQ4NuSEiQPqFxU5TDa7mu8w1GVmiJGaXxg2ju4QcQtXwmdn1U6EZF9Ltz5KPUIy8ko/s1600/Esthergetshelpwithgift.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNByCOvH_96Q62Vi8pLWiLKVJmz0JxzklAisOkmv6hKsj9OubQh3CEQQ-f1AYypyZWUVLQMhixWSUQ4NuSEiQPqFxU5TDa7mu8w1GVmiJGaXxg2ju4QcQtXwmdn1U6EZF9Ltz5KPUIy8ko/s640/Esthergetshelpwithgift.jpg" width="422" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther got lots of help opening her gifts!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSE7YHGh7gDBnDNTLBgoe9rn04VjrdRHlydf2vOgn4_EyYU7-mSvDkuxXs6_6ywHitudncLMgBJR8GB0x_wHXAOXvmNhOvL2m_2UeVz47CDZPkcg2erpcuUeMkL32LcPkGevG90uzoahT9/s1600/Estherinsnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSE7YHGh7gDBnDNTLBgoe9rn04VjrdRHlydf2vOgn4_EyYU7-mSvDkuxXs6_6ywHitudncLMgBJR8GB0x_wHXAOXvmNhOvL2m_2UeVz47CDZPkcg2erpcuUeMkL32LcPkGevG90uzoahT9/s640/Estherinsnow.jpg" width="340" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther loves to play in the snow - we even had a white Christmas this year!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXlk7iiVOoH6CVw6-o_QhzMggdOQPSK-EMeTgbZJ02JFG-N77Q55uVyhcSlUMD3iMLqxiDu0y66aew4kH2QzthFRzCqa4paMpL0_pN5oNAjanKL1rLRr9QPBIawi_9RgRucTKm0gypNk0/s1600/Esthershooting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXlk7iiVOoH6CVw6-o_QhzMggdOQPSK-EMeTgbZJ02JFG-N77Q55uVyhcSlUMD3iMLqxiDu0y66aew4kH2QzthFRzCqa4paMpL0_pN5oNAjanKL1rLRr9QPBIawi_9RgRucTKm0gypNk0/s320/Esthershooting.jpg" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther loves to pretend to shoot guns, so this gift was a hit <br />- only problem was that she loved to aim at her daddy, and she had good aim!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoi6ctlZBTIBttUYGm1UJx7l8PE1zXaewg9Y9JAWZXqwextxWPF4ytXE0ugaQu_FgU7cMEUWuIrh99flNp-7mtdEYPtYPjbbAKYGV-jgnQbIm6ytQB6x4BzZrDEE3ozkIk2pQUmE793Xv3/s1600/Esthertruckinginsnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoi6ctlZBTIBttUYGm1UJx7l8PE1zXaewg9Y9JAWZXqwextxWPF4ytXE0ugaQu_FgU7cMEUWuIrh99flNp-7mtdEYPtYPjbbAKYGV-jgnQbIm6ytQB6x4BzZrDEE3ozkIk2pQUmE793Xv3/s320/Esthertruckinginsnow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She loves the snow, did I tell you that?</td></tr>
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Monday we head down to Seattle Children's Hospital for Esther to have her tonsils and adenoids removed. Please pray that everything will go well and that she'll be home again quickly.<br />
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<br />Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-89587578803550241772012-11-14T04:50:00.000-08:002012-11-14T04:50:28.011-08:00Esther Turns Four Years Old!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWrR_pRXKa_wZLPJVqrs8aiuOGBRod6l_0FAh_QJOkYO8Hu4dXRtCA3yxtXcbLTf4VsXyLn9MngZKJ6XBMOg253R9tce8QFG_Kk5GdcUFZfeCPk5eNbCrBL-EQZ7KOMe-Cz7vK2CrxPG2/s1600/Estherwithbabydollinsling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWrR_pRXKa_wZLPJVqrs8aiuOGBRod6l_0FAh_QJOkYO8Hu4dXRtCA3yxtXcbLTf4VsXyLn9MngZKJ6XBMOg253R9tce8QFG_Kk5GdcUFZfeCPk5eNbCrBL-EQZ7KOMe-Cz7vK2CrxPG2/s320/Estherwithbabydollinsling.jpg" width="208" /></a>This past spring we began to notice that Esther snore while she sleeps, and she was waking often to cry a little and go back to sleep on her own. There were also times when she would wake up in a panic, with a raspy voice, almost like she felt like she was having an asthma attack of sorts. We talked with her doctor about this during one of her sister, Carese's well child check ups, in July. We discussed that this can be a sign of sleep apnea, and that her tonsils and adenoids may be enlarged and causing a narrowed airway. <br />
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After that I made an appointment with an ENT. But then I tried diffusing essential oils in her room at night and giving her Ibuprophen before bed and the snoring/restless sleeping seemed to abate, so I cancelled the appointment.<br />
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Fast forward to October and Esther got a cold - a bad one. She went from not feeling well Saturday to real breathing problems Sunday night. We are talking the kind of breathing you can hear from another room that puts a mother into full fledged panic mode. I was thankful that I had started breathing treatments for Esther the moment she showed signs up being sick, so I knew I had done everything I could and that she needed to see the doctor ASAP!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnY3WuiKgP16OZ8f0DFKsCTBXICT5FA6JOXnVX93Y3WUXjT4ZGjKMFY5_2zRVCPEMDXxWyqxDHHofcSqhHofwxlLz8IqWeeeT3WM2z8ERctiDHKcYYPOuMOVQG-ZbsJ4RPvzzpVYE-ZfNb/s1600/zooday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnY3WuiKgP16OZ8f0DFKsCTBXICT5FA6JOXnVX93Y3WUXjT4ZGjKMFY5_2zRVCPEMDXxWyqxDHHofcSqhHofwxlLz8IqWeeeT3WM2z8ERctiDHKcYYPOuMOVQG-ZbsJ4RPvzzpVYE-ZfNb/s320/zooday.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I took her to see the doctor the next day, after videotaping her breathing during her sleep. She was diagnosed with having croup, an ear infection and very swollen tonsils. They tested her for strep throat, but thankfully she did not have that. She prescribed antibiotics and oral steroids, and she was breathing better within hours. But for the first time she reacted to the steroids with a emotional episode...she's never done anything like that before and I hope she won't do it again as it was so hard on both of us. She was upset and nothing I did seemed to help, but thankfully it only lasted about an hour.<br />
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The doctor watched the little video and said that she definitely has sleep apnea problems, especially when ill. She made a referal for Esther to see an ENT at Children's Hospital in Seattle and we also talked about monitoring her oxygen during the night while she was sick. Just that morning a friend had offered to give me her puls-ox machine, so we were all set to make use of that! Her oxygen levels were fine after that, but I'm hanging onto the puls-ox machine for now.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RAinVh4XnwcgEG_IykhMLQKgeiVOPSRXR8iYVibTpr9jKQ9C4c3tcYcAMpm9AfISqI1DljN-PGOSACPtpYZpEakkfMGmxjIF1wkgnjmjDB9ufqp-P4lo_gVepjgAUg4v6MlawaKrXC6r/s1600/EstherNpenguins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0RAinVh4XnwcgEG_IykhMLQKgeiVOPSRXR8iYVibTpr9jKQ9C4c3tcYcAMpm9AfISqI1DljN-PGOSACPtpYZpEakkfMGmxjIF1wkgnjmjDB9ufqp-P4lo_gVepjgAUg4v6MlawaKrXC6r/s320/EstherNpenguins.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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Esther's day at Children's went exceptionally well. She had two appointments that day - cardiology (I'll blog about that one once we get the final results, but so far so good), and then ENT. It was determined that her tonsils and adenoids are enlarged when she is healthy, and this is very common in children with Down Syndrome - their tonsils and adenoids are normal size or enlarged, while their airways are small. The ENT explained that children's tonsils and adenoids grow faster than the airway until they are around 11 years old, so that any child with problems much before that time, the problem will only get worse.<br />
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So Esther is now scheduled for surgery on January 7. We covet your prayers for this in two ways - that she will be healthy in the weeks leading up to the surgery (we are keeping her home from here on out - I don't want her to get another upper respiratory illness and have another night like we had), and that she won't experience any of the common complications that children with Down Syndrome usually experience with this surgery (pneumonia, inability to eat/drink for days, dehydration and others). Thank you in advance for your prayers!<br />
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Now to better news! Esther got to go to the zoo for the first time - and she loved every minute of it! The otters and penguins really put on a show for her, and she really enjoyed their antics!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjMRL2AdcifyHLbICLayewXHohpdtvafF06IBsx6BFN467klFhP3_GWXPJlDc1Nc7qwv8EfVoUmoxDXQRNmOFMx23iJoC1HPKUNg-VSF9BVTcacLP5hMPT4Svc1ANN6O2_v_lYn2_6uVb/s1600/Esther4thbirthday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmjMRL2AdcifyHLbICLayewXHohpdtvafF06IBsx6BFN467klFhP3_GWXPJlDc1Nc7qwv8EfVoUmoxDXQRNmOFMx23iJoC1HPKUNg-VSF9BVTcacLP5hMPT4Svc1ANN6O2_v_lYn2_6uVb/s320/Esther4thbirthday.jpg" width="320" /></a>Esther turned 4 on September 20 - can you believe it???<br />
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Esther is learning new words, and putting words together to make sentences - like "close the door" and "cookies please"! She is also learning to take off her clothes, and she tries to put them on too. This is especially funny when she tries to put on her siblings clothes (and a little embarrassing at times when she selects undergarments!).<br />
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She also loves to help with laundry, especially sorting diapers and soakers. She loves to read books, and points to pictures and says the words if she know them. She will also point to pictures if you ask her where something is!<br />
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But above all, her favorite thing is playing with her dollies. She loves to play momma, but her favorite thing is to have her dollies hug and kiss, or dance together!Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-28562893410425643132012-08-22T14:12:00.000-07:002012-08-22T14:15:52.091-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Esther has been having an adventurous summer!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She swam at a big lake</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She got to go on a Ferry Boat Ride!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther and I - having a fun time together!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi8vsyn19Pb_6BDXriWZ0BegQE7hSzlmwHrnWg44r6naj2HFtdoYj-KgoOPtyXRmFwCjeG8tlvQ-qCSGYL5IiiKk8fpU6yMBASlzZ84xMjXBStM-Eq8ky97FzL95twhikYAScfP5Ck058/s1600/ferryride10600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi8vsyn19Pb_6BDXriWZ0BegQE7hSzlmwHrnWg44r6naj2HFtdoYj-KgoOPtyXRmFwCjeG8tlvQ-qCSGYL5IiiKk8fpU6yMBASlzZ84xMjXBStM-Eq8ky97FzL95twhikYAScfP5Ck058/s320/ferryride10600.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther spending time with her daddy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFoIDiW_hFTvt_pTnuoF8Wy4eMOsB3Nik3BwqjcHKKbRG96XDO7MopGf_mpj5peWQ6YPUtK_aFPQDbxIwtOSbX2u1PaFgbA0dEtUy4EJrYeivFuQmbnfnMh2e2aWml9fqjrUaQuTgnswZ0/s1600/ferryride12600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFoIDiW_hFTvt_pTnuoF8Wy4eMOsB3Nik3BwqjcHKKbRG96XDO7MopGf_mpj5peWQ6YPUtK_aFPQDbxIwtOSbX2u1PaFgbA0dEtUy4EJrYeivFuQmbnfnMh2e2aWml9fqjrUaQuTgnswZ0/s400/ferryride12600.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What could be better? Hanging with her daddy and <br />
listening to live rag time and bluegrass music! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCybBD4XLjFu9fDWJ-G75hNH5fAbdDtel60YueaAJSeG2KXx_9cds_eQ_OH9-oXYttgePjWfNZw_PLJ7rYKVBwm0XULXMfDrIQotTLuEDDOkb67fPdGP4EgzIsqtn1vZ9FKZdsqE5VgW1I/s1600/SweetEsther.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCybBD4XLjFu9fDWJ-G75hNH5fAbdDtel60YueaAJSeG2KXx_9cds_eQ_OH9-oXYttgePjWfNZw_PLJ7rYKVBwm0XULXMfDrIQotTLuEDDOkb67fPdGP4EgzIsqtn1vZ9FKZdsqE5VgW1I/s320/SweetEsther.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther spent a whole week camping too!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaHInQ_fytPesAVxo2nMfv-XN0ho2ilx4BCR_RtBQii_meeg2yKdcYSjLaK_OW4gixn3i_aXVWBMCz3Te63TlXCx1UJvudKxQA4jOUWv1UZG42HxKcsTW4Dg2AjHcJ1Fl8g7n78hMcMDH/s1600/morningatcamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnaHInQ_fytPesAVxo2nMfv-XN0ho2ilx4BCR_RtBQii_meeg2yKdcYSjLaK_OW4gixn3i_aXVWBMCz3Te63TlXCx1UJvudKxQA4jOUWv1UZG42HxKcsTW4Dg2AjHcJ1Fl8g7n78hMcMDH/s320/morningatcamp.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting her hair braided at camp.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2H_tKBH674BsDkmr10jpf2HYUYvxnDHpWmYL8hKV949CcDJi6F_f6_ggyhIDm_lw2B9snuHUbbFZ6__j5m5NWE19v4Ozv9wlbDoIX7RWNhX945mFSEGoA4n6X7UIAL487Rb0rglRCp8o/s1600/EstherNCraeseatcamp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl2H_tKBH674BsDkmr10jpf2HYUYvxnDHpWmYL8hKV949CcDJi6F_f6_ggyhIDm_lw2B9snuHUbbFZ6__j5m5NWE19v4Ozv9wlbDoIX7RWNhX945mFSEGoA4n6X7UIAL487Rb0rglRCp8o/s400/EstherNCraeseatcamp.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther loving on her little sister, Carese</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWIX4P9LwobW8uxXwpnh6vlsHbRykOkddS7GDVk27Kn9qDTNwaAOIodLEEdzx1Cqqhv0oQst0inMwGlbPmLNAn9zMUdO4plGN0Al6ABpnp8GvE5ZRWY9tCM5bjxokTPZFM2dg3heQh_DJ/s1600/rideinwagon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPWIX4P9LwobW8uxXwpnh6vlsHbRykOkddS7GDVk27Kn9qDTNwaAOIodLEEdzx1Cqqhv0oQst0inMwGlbPmLNAn9zMUdO4plGN0Al6ABpnp8GvE5ZRWY9tCM5bjxokTPZFM2dg3heQh_DJ/s320/rideinwagon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting pulled around in the wagon</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81HVyqVqubJEl0J2e-k1_rP2BQtbwgAZs7l6BlS-bXrXM1Uu2f7uye_vbQkyVTI7VkMQxm6qunS_FY7-27kxoFqFFl4aqOKJtWCD1JlMTz7SoL3L8TjV3MQWpn21uguunMsoHMtaOlgPU/s1600/EstherdancingwithPayton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh81HVyqVqubJEl0J2e-k1_rP2BQtbwgAZs7l6BlS-bXrXM1Uu2f7uye_vbQkyVTI7VkMQxm6qunS_FY7-27kxoFqFFl4aqOKJtWCD1JlMTz7SoL3L8TjV3MQWpn21uguunMsoHMtaOlgPU/s400/EstherdancingwithPayton.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Making New Friends!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJALY9OlxxfrVPQr3t02K2DZ86hDB64G14To0Ing3l11tfGGs1xR5A9yeceJVv2biwsTt3U-o9ChnULrj05TPY4dSZhnlCWDw7tgaewDyE6TAHArIQTD_yKmupBpeijrDneQcwiNwj1C4T/s1600/ringaroundtherosie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJALY9OlxxfrVPQr3t02K2DZ86hDB64G14To0Ing3l11tfGGs1xR5A9yeceJVv2biwsTt3U-o9ChnULrj05TPY4dSZhnlCWDw7tgaewDyE6TAHArIQTD_yKmupBpeijrDneQcwiNwj1C4T/s320/ringaroundtherosie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We've been slacking on her wearing her orthotic bracess and glasses, but I'm going to be hardcore about them in a day or two - she had outgrown her orthotics and bent the hinge on her glasses, but both of those are going to be available soon!Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-60119781123618450912012-07-16T19:26:00.001-07:002012-07-16T19:43:55.969-07:00What if that was me...My mommy has a friend who went a long ways away to go bring her little girl, Katie, home. I would love to be Katie's friend. Katie has Down Syndrome like me, and she has lots of brothers and sisters now like I do, but she has had a very different life than I have had<span style="background-color: white;">.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.snap-ez.com/images/blogphotos/EstherandMom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.snap-ez.com/images/blogphotos/EstherandMom.jpg" width="147" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white;">I was born to a mommy who loved me and stayed by my side every day that I was in the hospital, and then she I was strong enough she took me home. Katie never new knew her mother and until her new mommy came and found her, she had spent every day of her life in a place like a hospital, but no one took good care of her their.</span><br />
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I was taught to do the things that I couldn't learn to do on my own - I was taught to feed myself, to help get my clothes on, to walk and run and things like that. Katie stayed in her crib all day, every day. She was never taught how to do anything.<br />
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I had my diaper changed many times every day, and I was fed three meals a day and lots of snacks too. I got lots of nummy mommy's milk for my first few months, and healthy formula after that until I could start eating real food. Then I got to try lots of different foods and I loved most of it. Katie was given a bottle every day, propped up so the formula would run down her throat, make her choke, and a lot of it got on her bed. I had to have my liquids thickened for a long time so I wouldn't breath in the fluids and get breathing problems. Katie probably ended up breathing the liquids and getting sick from that happening.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://theblessingofverity.com/wp-content/uploads/797_25.05.2009_Veronika044-450x506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://theblessingofverity.com/wp-content/uploads/797_25.05.2009_Veronika044-450x506.jpg" width="177" /></a>I was talked to, hugged, kissed, cuddled and rocked to sleep. If I woke up during the night, my mommy would feed and care for me and help me to go back to sleep. Katie was rarely held or touched except for bottle feeding and diaper changes, but the diaper changes were only once a day. If Katie woke up at night there was no one to hear her cries except for the other children in their cribs.<br />
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My mommy carefully weighed me regularly to make sure I was gaining weight like I should and I did great - in fact I'm big for my age! Katie was probably weighed and when she went home to be with her forever family she weighed only 10 1/2 pounds. That's not bad for a newborn, but she was NINE YEARS OLD! I weighed that when I was 2 months old, and I had a big heart problem that made it hard for me to gain weight!<br />
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My mommy took me to the doctor when I got sick. Katie and her friends have probably never seen a doctor until her mommy found her. If I had lived where Katie lived I would have died. Many children die in that house - 18 in just one year. This is so sad.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://theblessingofverity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012-06-09-002-2012-06-09-009-450x337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://theblessingofverity.com/wp-content/uploads/2012-06-09-002-2012-06-09-009-450x337.jpg" width="320" /></a>Thankfully my friend Katie no longer lives at that hospital like place called Plevin. Thankfully God brought Katie to her forever family and now she's just like me! Well, almost. But Katie is growing fast - she weighs probably over 30 pounds now. She isn't walking yet, but she's learning by using a special walking machine. She gets lots of therapy, especially from her brothers and sisters just like I do. She's learned to feed herself, and she never gets a bottle anymore. The best thing she has learned is that she is loved. She is happy now and always well cared for.<br />
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I think the best thing that Katie has gotten to do since she came home to her forever family is to go outdoors. She's <a href="http://theblessingofverity.com/2012/05/while-you-wait-for-the-pleven-update/">played in the sprinkler</a>, <a href="http://theblessingofverity.com/2012/06/i-bet-you-didnt-know-i-could-fly/" target="_blank">swung in a swing,</a> <a href="http://theblessingofverity.com/2012/06/straight-talk-iii-siblings/" target="_blank">swam in the lake</a> and enjoyed all the beautiful flowers too. She loves to do those things just like I do.<br />
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But do you know what is really sad? There are so many other children living at Plevin. Still waiting for their forever families to rescue them from that terrible place. Maybe people are working to make Plevin better, but it will never compare to having a home where they are loved and cherished all day, every day.<br />
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My mommy want you to help - go to Katie's mommy's <a href="http://theblessingofverity.com/2012/06/standing-in-their-place/" target="_blank">blog post </a>to see some of the children still living in plevin and see if your forever child is there. Or help the Brown's to adopt <a href="http://reecesrainbow.org/40940/sponsorbrown-4'" target="_blank">Gemma</a> by sending money to them through Reece's Rainbow. Or maybe you could become a <a href="http://reecesrainbow.org/waystohelp" target="_blank">Prayer Warrior or an Orphan Warrior</a> like my mommy did! Just do something. These children need a loving home like I have, like Katie has. It's just that simple.<br />
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<br />Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-5407062189877235532012-07-10T21:20:00.000-07:002012-07-10T21:20:11.621-07:00Fun times with Esther and lost photos!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmwKl1y0VRFD7un9SgMEyXNu4gTi2q41LBygRNWQw76UXGrZvsah8n3FNtMfmxdyL18ihjMylHAHexdl7xrAO5FErwhI2E6RcF_O5SyrG17MxgCAyittQGajGU2MSrsVeoEYenjVsgTH9/s1600/Esthersfirehate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCmwKl1y0VRFD7un9SgMEyXNu4gTi2q41LBygRNWQw76UXGrZvsah8n3FNtMfmxdyL18ihjMylHAHexdl7xrAO5FErwhI2E6RcF_O5SyrG17MxgCAyittQGajGU2MSrsVeoEYenjVsgTH9/s320/Esthersfirehate.jpg" width="320" /></a>Esther has had some great new experiences in the past few weeks! First off was going to the Lynden City Fire Department for a tour. She got to sit in an ambulance and a fire truck and even got to take home a fireman's hat. She loved all the firemen, but got a bit board when they talked for too long and she tried to run out the big doors...but we caught her before she got very far!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWzJaS9HNAl50mPlilxqbFTafUTwmDbQV06dU2Dc9fgJcJkb_v6644O_25x5j-CiWzjo-2h6MR6DU9T2n_QW1XemsmBnhRTrrcLczLs8r7cyHet7wdmx52L-BB3zIr2vJTuPR3AGPskNL/s1600/EstheratBBQ800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuWzJaS9HNAl50mPlilxqbFTafUTwmDbQV06dU2Dc9fgJcJkb_v6644O_25x5j-CiWzjo-2h6MR6DU9T2n_QW1XemsmBnhRTrrcLczLs8r7cyHet7wdmx52L-BB3zIr2vJTuPR3AGPskNL/s320/EstheratBBQ800.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Esther also got to spend two days at the lake, playing in the sand, the waves and exploring our friend's back yard even thought it was a cloudy day and it even rained a bit. She got really cold, but her sister, Rebekah helped warm her up by putting her in our Ergo carrier on her back and putting mama's coat over them both. She also enjoyed posing for the camera during our dinner on the deck.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWn8Pie4tBSuC6UZt6-DrZvev_9qdUScbRacmB6VC1liyQndxo3c_6glu9fcdXKi3gM4SS2vQJNwWEuNKPGEjh3Ga7cypdzUlrpZKSqxXnTNK0hoQ1HVEijGcy0NiOjGTezH-r-n9b4ib/s1600/RebekahNEstheratBBQ800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYWn8Pie4tBSuC6UZt6-DrZvev_9qdUScbRacmB6VC1liyQndxo3c_6glu9fcdXKi3gM4SS2vQJNwWEuNKPGEjh3Ga7cypdzUlrpZKSqxXnTNK0hoQ1HVEijGcy0NiOjGTezH-r-n9b4ib/s320/RebekahNEstheratBBQ800.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EQVGRY24BPNpZt5mW3HF6Rjr1zxYFPRITUbfq_je3-I-NMwXLd_JtzPP7HuSlYVv6tSIoq9CoKNlFsAILu7p3M-hO3lCunrZx-M-pes8Q-0qIIXh5rf8RDCwGm_7fu-4U_Cof0UkP1AK/s1600/Estherincarsea800t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EQVGRY24BPNpZt5mW3HF6Rjr1zxYFPRITUbfq_je3-I-NMwXLd_JtzPP7HuSlYVv6tSIoq9CoKNlFsAILu7p3M-hO3lCunrZx-M-pes8Q-0qIIXh5rf8RDCwGm_7fu-4U_Cof0UkP1AK/s320/Estherincarsea800t.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3EQVGRY24BPNpZt5mW3HF6Rjr1zxYFPRITUbfq_je3-I-NMwXLd_JtzPP7HuSlYVv6tSIoq9CoKNlFsAILu7p3M-hO3lCunrZx-M-pes8Q-0qIIXh5rf8RDCwGm_7fu-4U_Cof0UkP1AK/s1600/Estherincarsea800t.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a>Riding on her sibling's backs is one of her favorite things to do. Riding in her car seat is always fun because Esther knows that going in a car/van/truck means going to go do something fun, usually. When we leave with out her she is so depressed. She cries and cries. This trip she was upset about something, but she then consoled herself by her usual way - sucking her thumb. I know, she's almost 4 years old and it's getting time to start breaking her of the habit, but I just can't do it yet.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbKFdAPtiU5CqVvptAXWStkNVsG5YgM3s1MmzKe2E2rVlf_e_ztzVLhOZJum2tw799DzA5lPMVJ70eDiVXtukK-kXPwKk3dDVH53ZrAQjkem0jY8daSTs2dLGP_MsvG7M4H2Du2HBapOx/s1600/RubysBirthdayEster800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBbKFdAPtiU5CqVvptAXWStkNVsG5YgM3s1MmzKe2E2rVlf_e_ztzVLhOZJum2tw799DzA5lPMVJ70eDiVXtukK-kXPwKk3dDVH53ZrAQjkem0jY8daSTs2dLGP_MsvG7M4H2Du2HBapOx/s320/RubysBirthdayEster800.jpg" width="320" /></a>Esther also got to go to a birthday party and she sat up at the table with great manners and made her mama so proud!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-czgxhHuSbp0UHKIA31jzuvgV-K2gOQ0_UUi_NvfxxvDnToBWaxnxYECTcTFrom-JUSTPXTdJ_ayLI6DnD5XQXuVO6d0QQ_-q9KSCS1UUDyMqnjBY63MIKw1u_dyXvFfF4FBtcy3CStj4/s1600/motionblur.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-czgxhHuSbp0UHKIA31jzuvgV-K2gOQ0_UUi_NvfxxvDnToBWaxnxYECTcTFrom-JUSTPXTdJ_ayLI6DnD5XQXuVO6d0QQ_-q9KSCS1UUDyMqnjBY63MIKw1u_dyXvFfF4FBtcy3CStj4/s320/motionblur.jpg" width="320" /></a>Esther has many talents that keep us entertained. The older kids made up some ribbons on sticks and Esther loved to spin them around, especially when she would get two of them. She was moving them so fast that I decided to try to do a blur action photo and it worked wonderfully. Her symmetry of motion with both hands was amazing!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5BQRXFMyxlMHyRbBQqOPGp3xzhlnwk04gsuqibjt1QUhuOcsQI_tC0MZafcuvKNR26JwHwLiXvcsFzpqpfnBNqf01J-s0j1ZnFrQWImLBEX07zqa0d25P-Zu3P0c3Posi-uHHUWbwvlF/s1600/Esther-SMILE2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu5BQRXFMyxlMHyRbBQqOPGp3xzhlnwk04gsuqibjt1QUhuOcsQI_tC0MZafcuvKNR26JwHwLiXvcsFzpqpfnBNqf01J-s0j1ZnFrQWImLBEX07zqa0d25P-Zu3P0c3Posi-uHHUWbwvlF/s320/Esther-SMILE2.jpg" width="316" /></a>At the dentist's office she did so well that she earned a sticker, and it was such an appropriate sticker because Esther smiles so much of the time. Her and her sisters had a lot of fun with this sticker, that is for sure.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbc_i-VE0I5z1URDqbehlGEzDEGe9DnAe1dN8LY0GQytg-GzRn-QD_fLRMPlYMzaZ1MeELDguKAW2iWy8OU9zMkjpUIt3tMRVhYUBvumE3IxoBC0caabcyguGipqqZxJAIprb2TzZCaDRM/s1600/mygirls6-12noisereducedhuechanged800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbc_i-VE0I5z1URDqbehlGEzDEGe9DnAe1dN8LY0GQytg-GzRn-QD_fLRMPlYMzaZ1MeELDguKAW2iWy8OU9zMkjpUIt3tMRVhYUBvumE3IxoBC0caabcyguGipqqZxJAIprb2TzZCaDRM/s320/mygirls6-12noisereducedhuechanged800.jpg" width="320" /></a>Speaking of sisters, Esther has 5 sisters now and she got to have her picture taken with all of them recently. Three big sisters and three little sisters, isn't that just wonderful?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsIcxDqrQ_EPRYvbJe8mWDoQLiFGpDyD-AhnitEWFcWD6X7iGZHtfq-uiZu6Fid0iREyyHQwqr0NIDf4Q4_e1LJCB6zdUX1C9W88wdAat37s3s7li6JTGCO-hljmtHFvpn2ifLYe-oHQlL/s1600/unalteredesther.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsIcxDqrQ_EPRYvbJe8mWDoQLiFGpDyD-AhnitEWFcWD6X7iGZHtfq-uiZu6Fid0iREyyHQwqr0NIDf4Q4_e1LJCB6zdUX1C9W88wdAat37s3s7li6JTGCO-hljmtHFvpn2ifLYe-oHQlL/s320/unalteredesther.jpg" width="320" /></a>Esther loves to smile, as I've said before, and she also loves to pose for the camera. Often she's making funny faces too or making weird poses, but this is Esther through and through!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwiNwxSH4TixxMf8WWOBXSMIz8S4T9pGTrwMDd7hJIO6jsRwYT_eohGcEB6nJeIcozUOQuS6vF9EIiCJUzYuM2yPawbyyelMf3KC44s4QCyTuZFh9nr3glOn2Cy3t6pgTV0KwywcEPeodl/s1600/Estherpneumonia1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwiNwxSH4TixxMf8WWOBXSMIz8S4T9pGTrwMDd7hJIO6jsRwYT_eohGcEB6nJeIcozUOQuS6vF9EIiCJUzYuM2yPawbyyelMf3KC44s4QCyTuZFh9nr3glOn2Cy3t6pgTV0KwywcEPeodl/s320/Estherpneumonia1.jpg" width="240" /></a>Recently I resurrected my I-phone and found some photos on there that I had never taken off. This is Esther when she had pneumonia. She was 2 1/2 and spent 5 days in the hospital. I know it was March 12, 2011 that she was admitted because I got to watch all the events unfold in Japan when the huge earthquake and tsunami wreaked such devastation there. She was one sick cookie! Since then we have been using breathing treatments whenever she gets a cold and she hasn't had any major problems with breathing when she's sick.</div>
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In the next photo you can see when she was starting to feel better and starting to eat again, but you can tell by her eyes that she wasn't herself again yet. In the next photo you can see that she is ready to go home. She's cleaning her hospital room! She was a very busy lady who wanted to get down and play on the floor and take everything out of the drawers. I knew she was feeling better because she wouldn't be content in her bed anymore!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PmYyYV5bqYEQznAOEUvPhCnnEV3Syg5rmcDmYXjAIrZW-fWG4ME3tfn-H4iktOqbvPAB9Ng2tgkU5FUffMWz_sAUmmSsdPBvhHusHs3IhSMWmWCz0ywX7nFOthpTLch_qg0ocX9_qdC4/s1600/Esther+pneumonia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0PmYyYV5bqYEQznAOEUvPhCnnEV3Syg5rmcDmYXjAIrZW-fWG4ME3tfn-H4iktOqbvPAB9Ng2tgkU5FUffMWz_sAUmmSsdPBvhHusHs3IhSMWmWCz0ywX7nFOthpTLch_qg0ocX9_qdC4/s320/Esther+pneumonia.jpg" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNy8L3ke7fyyTB_aJXeR3MyojkB1G2MQNPiGSbdCtSlowt5oCYAOjOfiJqOeQfboXksrh_GokE7lvpwsASaFKIJZoAfjghwjXXt67S6qe7KJIa0cfMHilrtP86uIq0A1oIJmy75k_TLWiv/s1600/Estherpneumonia2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNy8L3ke7fyyTB_aJXeR3MyojkB1G2MQNPiGSbdCtSlowt5oCYAOjOfiJqOeQfboXksrh_GokE7lvpwsASaFKIJZoAfjghwjXXt67S6qe7KJIa0cfMHilrtP86uIq0A1oIJmy75k_TLWiv/s320/Estherpneumonia2.jpg" width="240" /></a>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqUFWlOdLVITSx37iYkp8g71-KdXyuq13lC5egw0PoaXXm8uMOrkgChEsmLRbzguBCEYVGcOBG5yYmnpg1eyDjxFZHEf5sziD509CLZWj8DgEKdTalcL7gJjGPuizICmoek8zGwvZMjRx/s1600/Estherprestitches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnqUFWlOdLVITSx37iYkp8g71-KdXyuq13lC5egw0PoaXXm8uMOrkgChEsmLRbzguBCEYVGcOBG5yYmnpg1eyDjxFZHEf5sziD509CLZWj8DgEKdTalcL7gJjGPuizICmoek8zGwvZMjRx/s200/Estherprestitches.jpg" width="152" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj207L3mctcjYjHc1YLyjN0whcTnBFHh6nK3MbMYgZkTmafxODgtjd046Cl3s6NbT_YnYTALC-eZFv297Y-Uko2qPJuwE4L7YSa5RYRaAC6rquQee_V5Hxf-EvC0O5mQlYNH3b0Qcpwq9vN/s1600/EstherStitches3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj207L3mctcjYjHc1YLyjN0whcTnBFHh6nK3MbMYgZkTmafxODgtjd046Cl3s6NbT_YnYTALC-eZFv297Y-Uko2qPJuwE4L7YSa5RYRaAC6rquQee_V5Hxf-EvC0O5mQlYNH3b0Qcpwq9vN/s200/EstherStitches3.jpg" width="200" /></a>In these next photos, you can see when Esther fell and cut her head. She had just learned to walk well and tripped and fell while holding a plastic cup. Her head landed on the edge of the cup and it cut through right above her eye and left a round bruise under her eye. She was quite the little trouper at the hospital, but she did not like having the cut irrigated, not one bit. But between Jessica and I we were able to comfort her through it all.</div>
<br />Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-32452964089100324682012-06-21T09:08:00.000-07:002012-06-21T09:08:36.507-07:00My Future's So Bright<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: white;">I gotta wear shades!</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWGXaiJlAnpr22aMF-m-IfLGUo8gVrv2LdSRDjNW0DiZHU19moAZ2Xkhi9-xhmhDyNw8DYTRiVW-3QOP412lqenYgqIRn7NhTnYEqhuorfWH96PFfZGA47wdpnRL-tcjODPTL7o-o9WMmX/s1600/EstherinhatNshades.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWGXaiJlAnpr22aMF-m-IfLGUo8gVrv2LdSRDjNW0DiZHU19moAZ2Xkhi9-xhmhDyNw8DYTRiVW-3QOP412lqenYgqIRn7NhTnYEqhuorfWH96PFfZGA47wdpnRL-tcjODPTL7o-o9WMmX/s400/EstherinhatNshades.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #4c1130;"><b style="background-color: white;">She is such a little entertainer! She loves an audience. She found her big brother Jonathan's hat and shades, put them on all by herself, and gave us some great laughs!</b></span></div>Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-15989381543546465592012-06-12T09:41:00.002-07:002012-06-12T09:47:32.046-07:00"Her Heart is Repaired"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxv3E9lJ1WwaOQxM3DnnhFHWQ2Geu1uRckERSoBPpYHmvnzF_-48PvLvFa6tDk9ZN_xXip2mSlIxJ8iZEyvP_G14X9ue66R7crtANE0giPK4wf4efXvTW_qcx-LJZgv2YAMtdQuzQGEc2W/s1600/Estherspigtails.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxv3E9lJ1WwaOQxM3DnnhFHWQ2Geu1uRckERSoBPpYHmvnzF_-48PvLvFa6tDk9ZN_xXip2mSlIxJ8iZEyvP_G14X9ue66R7crtANE0giPK4wf4efXvTW_qcx-LJZgv2YAMtdQuzQGEc2W/s320/Estherspigtails.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther sporting pigtails on a Sunday!</td></tr>
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Esther, Carese, Daryl and I went down to Children's yesterday for her cardiology appointment. It's been 2 years since her last appointment! We left very early (in the car at 6:45) in order to drop some elastic off for a seamstress to pick up, accommodate feeding Carese on the way, and making one stop to get sun glasses for Daryl. Even with the careful planning and not having to feed Carese until we got to Children's, we just made it with enough time to change her into her nice clothes, comb her hair and put on her braces/shoes before her 10:00 check in time! I ended up nursing Carese (under my nursing cover of course) while getting our IDs and checking in!<br />
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Carese and Esther did amazingly well on the way down. Carese mostly slept, waking up just before our stop to get sun glasses, so we were able to change her diaper and get he dressed then (I had only changed her diaper before we left, in hopes that her outfit that I'd picked out for going to Children' would still be in great shape when we arrived). Esther played quietly in the car with her Jessie doll and looking at books. <br />
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Once at Children's Daryl got the job of chasing her around, and did he ever have to work to keep track of her. With all that sitting quietly time in the car, she was ready to run and investigate! The weird thing was that she seemed to know exactly where to go every time we moved. She even went straight for the "purple doors" that lead to the cardiology wing...but it's been 2 years since she was there!<br />
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Her first appointment was for her echocardiogram of her heart. This is basically a detailed ultrasound of the heart, checking for any possible leaks or problems. This take about 1/2 hour and she has to lay on a hospital bed during the entire procedure. She did marvelously! They do have a TV up high on the wall and allow the parents to select a video for their child to watch. We picked a cute looking computer graphic cartoon (cute characters, bright colors, but we soon found out that the morals and language was not the best), and it did help a lot to keep her distracted. Esther's Jessie doll (from Toy Story) was her constant companion, and she also watched the video as well as danced around to entertain Esther (Esther loves to make Jessie tap dance on any surface, as well as having her read books or reading books to Jessie...but her favorite thing is to make Jessie dance with and kiss other dolls, especially the man rag-doll that Rebekah made for her).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSuufqPiuoGsc8vtPsWwfI-NtlKoHWAz7rNnp0cQ9M_zzg0dYgEIGIxIXnVhW9bcsYRI_0sXefCtnGGALnBj1JxXA9qjQpWOiKEovzVtJqbVe3xXs0qXJmo3hHW0PhHB4v0Cvp-aWStVk/s1600/EstherNDaddyatChildrens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqSuufqPiuoGsc8vtPsWwfI-NtlKoHWAz7rNnp0cQ9M_zzg0dYgEIGIxIXnVhW9bcsYRI_0sXefCtnGGALnBj1JxXA9qjQpWOiKEovzVtJqbVe3xXs0qXJmo3hHW0PhHB4v0Cvp-aWStVk/s320/EstherNDaddyatChildrens.jpg" width="290" /></a>After the ultrasound, we headed over to the cardiology room for her EKG (a dozen wires attached all over her body) and she was quite concerned about this, but she made it through without too much trauma. Next was getting a blood pressure reading and then a Pulse-Ox reading too. <br />
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Next was waiting to be seen by the nurse. This took about 20 minutes, and required that we pull out my Iphone and let her watch The Incredibles for a while. The after another 20 - 30 minute wait (during which Carese went to sleep), we finally got to see our favorite Cardiologist, Dr Kemna. She had cared for Esther all the way back when Esther was home the first time and was going to Children's every two weeks, as well as being on rounds during one of the weeks that Esther was staying at Children's before she had her open heart surgery. Dr Kemna took one look as Carese and said "you are a brave woman" - too funny! We really like Dr Kemna, especially as she explained to us that Esther heart is completely repaired, unless someone knew that she had undergone a repair, the repair would not even be noticeable in any tests! She said that Esther didn't need to be seen again for 3 years! Hooray! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMrpfLVyLyfa0v72iUWQVXVlt9UfLSmY66QatRpxO0da1_NOG2Q1rH_UvCqOYrK6eb6H6cEvGjV0uGgX0lYnCZOPGxrBVlIxmjtgtSVh6xaRGMC20gC78WoKvLKOg_0uVDSeQsfJB-wy2/s1600/CareseatChildren's.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQMrpfLVyLyfa0v72iUWQVXVlt9UfLSmY66QatRpxO0da1_NOG2Q1rH_UvCqOYrK6eb6H6cEvGjV0uGgX0lYnCZOPGxrBVlIxmjtgtSVh6xaRGMC20gC78WoKvLKOg_0uVDSeQsfJB-wy2/s320/CareseatChildren's.jpg" width="240" /></a>We then went to the cafeteria, as we were all getting very hungry, and had a snack or yogurt and chips. The last stop was to go up to the lab and get a blood draw for Esther's thyroid screen. Her pediatrician is now in charge of monitoring her thyroid instead of having to see a specialist (if anything shows up funny, then Esther will go see the endocrinologist again). This requires having her blood tested every 6 months (down from every 3 months now, yay!). Since we were at Children's, and they have the best phlobotomists in the world there, I had the lab request send down there and got it taken care of there! It went well, as usual for Children's lab draws. During the "poke" Esther was understandably upset, saying over and over "I'm OK, I'm OK" while tears were forming and running down her cheeks. At one point, she leaned her head back onto Daryl's shoulder and snuggled with him...it was so sweet (wish I had a photo, but I wasn't expecting a photo opportunity during a blood draw). <br />
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One note about our time at Children's - everywhere we went, Esther got attention for her cute antics (Jessie went everywhere with her and tap dance for more than a few observers). Carese was also the recipient of many oohs and awes as she is still so tiny. Most little babies at Children's are shrouded in their car seats, leaving one to only wonder as to why they needed to be at Children's. I'm afraid Carese just shouted "healthy newborn" there. <br />
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After that we were free to head home, but not until after we stopped to have lunch at the famous "Dick's Drive-In". Esther was asleep before we were even half way to there.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-UrJYpGh7EyB1vGlv-a44n7_Xy1iTYzdbdCHI9s7Zqbe7YPjEeuTE9RvVGpe_n_PHHZB4UC6Em97xKGiYnwFYakF2GpXDMFJx3YldMDqZvKlXdFHA4uqKgoLsRBYD4zMEbiDFWXGv39n/s1600/EstherCaresNMomatRestArea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-UrJYpGh7EyB1vGlv-a44n7_Xy1iTYzdbdCHI9s7Zqbe7YPjEeuTE9RvVGpe_n_PHHZB4UC6Em97xKGiYnwFYakF2GpXDMFJx3YldMDqZvKlXdFHA4uqKgoLsRBYD4zMEbiDFWXGv39n/s320/EstherCaresNMomatRestArea.jpg" width="239" /></a>With full (heavy) stomachs, we headed home. Our only stop was at a rest area north of Marysville. We took care of diaper changes and feeding Carese in the shade (the car was quite hot as we were driving our Camaro on a super sunny day, and the Camaro has lots of windows and a black interior - the AC doesn't work anymore). Of course Jessie came along and found that the cement picnic table was a wonderful place to tap dance! Esther enjoyed some free cake from the free coffee stand there, as Daryl and I took turns making a stop at the bathroom. It was such a wonderful break in our day - peaceful, shady and with a wonderfully cool breeze to enjoy!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7XnA9J8rYGpwv0-Uh40N7UiMfkY3cqIJVm8jLhWTKV-his9NWbAG1mpc1QdUoEx-aIUwlVc2DYUoKQNHSHA9r27vvmyh-0M06RUbOTBJd6cASxyAXpOFJ5XBFfAPNI45lBC6hLB4Fyf6/s1600/esthersnewhaircut2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP7XnA9J8rYGpwv0-Uh40N7UiMfkY3cqIJVm8jLhWTKV-his9NWbAG1mpc1QdUoEx-aIUwlVc2DYUoKQNHSHA9r27vvmyh-0M06RUbOTBJd6cASxyAXpOFJ5XBFfAPNI45lBC6hLB4Fyf6/s320/esthersnewhaircut2.jpg" width="172" /></a><br />
Our next stop was home, where I went for an immediate nap and Esther enjoyed playing with her siblings. A very tiring day, but it went even better than expected, that is for sure!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2wqc9wNzQiu3ZDDZorczsdrhASWmF_iXXhWhSyt7laV0lYcPuCVuzS0OoDGlRmq1t-6V8UXrbCUqYlZ16nZVzXx4PYPbq3fsRt4gC8Xl4o0-86GqO9BqmqJyNi3n29kJTT1P2j-G57_o/s1600/esthersnewhaircut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv2wqc9wNzQiu3ZDDZorczsdrhASWmF_iXXhWhSyt7laV0lYcPuCVuzS0OoDGlRmq1t-6V8UXrbCUqYlZ16nZVzXx4PYPbq3fsRt4gC8Xl4o0-86GqO9BqmqJyNi3n29kJTT1P2j-G57_o/s320/esthersnewhaircut.jpg" width="230" /></a>Lastly, Esther got her first majoy hair trim a couple of weeks ago - all her hair is finally one length! It was a major improvement as you can see:<br />
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<br />Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-15609368828927423902012-05-02T07:51:00.000-07:002012-05-02T07:51:13.727-07:00Esther's a Big Sister!<div style="text-align: center;">
On March 14 Esther became a big sister!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ikrvsv8Plve6liBIjWnNrFUwbIU5vEgOMtUvK0Z9JkMuTamx4trc1VCRz8Xzf4oOkEb1XFv18COUYNjGzgLgw5dXjzFOb9zqd2q2IzrxASiPq8tJu8O9_bBkT8XCdqZXWAaCXWcL2SRv/s1600/Esther+N+Carese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ikrvsv8Plve6liBIjWnNrFUwbIU5vEgOMtUvK0Z9JkMuTamx4trc1VCRz8Xzf4oOkEb1XFv18COUYNjGzgLgw5dXjzFOb9zqd2q2IzrxASiPq8tJu8O9_bBkT8XCdqZXWAaCXWcL2SRv/s320/Esther+N+Carese.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Esther has had to become a big girl for a while now, as I was on moderated activity due to high blood pressure problems with my pregnancy. Esther has become a big girl physically - almost 40 pounds now, so I was also having trouble being able to carry her at the end of the pregnancy. She has learned to do many things for herself now, like putting her own coat on (upside down usually), putting on her own pants (with help), going places walking on her own instead of being carries, walking over small obstacles without stopping and crawling/climbing over them. She's also communicating better now, using a combination of words and signs - usually both at the same time! Her favorite words are "cookie", "thank you", and she's learning to say "Carese", but so far it's just the beginning "K" sound. She also says "go" (as in "go away, you're bothering me" and "OK" for just about anything.<br />
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She had an appointment last month with the ophthalmologist to check to see if her glasses were doing what they had hoped they would (and they are), and Esther was such a big girl there too! She sat up in the big chair all by herself and did everything they asked of her without one complaint! All our other appointments found Esther crying and fighting everything. I was so proud of her!<br />
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Esther loves her little sister, Carese. She asks to hold her (with my help), and will give her kisses and sometimes she sings to her too! She has never once been jealous, and is content to sit on one side of me when I'm holding Carese, or to lay down in my lap if I'm feeding Carese. I'm so proud of her acceptance of Carese!<br />
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Esther now has new glasses - plastic flexible frames with a back strap - they are working great! Esther wanted to get weighed too - she's sitting on the postal scale we were using to weigh Carese in this photo:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguH3jTA5Lxy54eYGZFcCtYWJ02JCFczwFwgPCkdHX8qVDjS6shMP3B2trIiaj1SVKFBgTh_KujumP8gQlmJhWEzW0qFTc2Foqz8aVp4kbI_bJuR1RJ3A8hlw2MvI9erPN5T7iHdXsPGCYp/s1600/Esther+on+scale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguH3jTA5Lxy54eYGZFcCtYWJ02JCFczwFwgPCkdHX8qVDjS6shMP3B2trIiaj1SVKFBgTh_KujumP8gQlmJhWEzW0qFTc2Foqz8aVp4kbI_bJuR1RJ3A8hlw2MvI9erPN5T7iHdXsPGCYp/s320/Esther+on+scale.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
Esther's next big event will be returning to Children's for her next cardiology appointment. She's gotten 2 years off from appointment because she was so healthy at her last appointment. It will be interesting to see how well she handles the echo and EKG. <br />
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<br />Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-33040366737213087432012-02-24T10:42:00.000-08:002012-06-12T10:05:32.853-07:00A Day in Esther's Life<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxNHPZeYt0ScneYZx8_iFfberFkzUNkY3imahE41qC6kpiZ8tHsHsW0-GH_G2FdfGcTf7Sby11ZbRzWnm_mRbOXA_bh9q0Vl1MSARzw6E96ATgswJBrt1zzyz2arpc3iGm_w2vgez2sT1/s1600/Esther's+glasses+gear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxNHPZeYt0ScneYZx8_iFfberFkzUNkY3imahE41qC6kpiZ8tHsHsW0-GH_G2FdfGcTf7Sby11ZbRzWnm_mRbOXA_bh9q0Vl1MSARzw6E96ATgswJBrt1zzyz2arpc3iGm_w2vgez2sT1/s320/Esther's+glasses+gear.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Esther all ready for the day, <br />
with the latest headband to keep<br />
her old glasses in place</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I thought you might be interested in hearing about how Esther usually spends her day. Granted, this is a perfect day and lately they are few and far between (I've been down with a sinus infection for 7 weeks), but it gives you an idea!<br />
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Wake up at 7 am, cuddles and juice with her medications in the juice (thyroid and vitamins), diaper change (or on a good day, we'll have her sit on the potty), and her glasses are put on.<br />
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8 am is breakfast with the other children, she self feeds and loves to participate in prayer time!<br />
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After breakfast she gets dressed (she needs lots of help with this) get's her hair brushed and her glasses on (if she isn't wearing them yet) and gets her braces and shoes put on. If she has a cold, she also gets a breathing treatment at this time, and she doesn't mind this as long as there's something PIXAR playing on the TV! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilmqu8odeHrfg3w_QIumA0506LtR3rKfokGxhU_9ja3ggkN1dq0vguegOxQi8uBYiuXIZT4USI2Gc7F3gk6AW7G3PGki0vB789Q8fLAEc6eHCMuk-T1HS_Joo2Qbsjgf3Jkei2vs0KUrE/s1600/Esther+N+Baby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgilmqu8odeHrfg3w_QIumA0506LtR3rKfokGxhU_9ja3ggkN1dq0vguegOxQi8uBYiuXIZT4USI2Gc7F3gk6AW7G3PGki0vB789Q8fLAEc6eHCMuk-T1HS_Joo2Qbsjgf3Jkei2vs0KUrE/s320/Esther+N+Baby.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther loves playing with baby dolls <br />
- but she usually takes their clothes off ;)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I do some therapy things with her - reading a book together, trying to learn new words/signs, threading large wooden beads on a shoelace, playing with a shape shorter toy, naming body parts, reading a book with animals and learning animal names and sounds.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtbkfvBoprUOHMoROgzKr2w73l8gQLpBC4oE2Dc7ugXNLYTTNBvrsqO6q8N6abhwPsXxLj1zrxvZ6aSB4nv6eOKAnW0eR5rBJVOI9Eizwk8Gb0WwtxKavLWp32ptk7BBqCFVpBQFqZ971/s1600/little+girls+washing+dishes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCtbkfvBoprUOHMoROgzKr2w73l8gQLpBC4oE2Dc7ugXNLYTTNBvrsqO6q8N6abhwPsXxLj1zrxvZ6aSB4nv6eOKAnW0eR5rBJVOI9Eizwk8Gb0WwtxKavLWp32ptk7BBqCFVpBQFqZ971/s400/little+girls+washing+dishes.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's Esther helping wash dishes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>During chore time she usually helps a bigger brother or sister, putting things away, or maybe making another mess for them to learn to teach her to pick up behind herself!<br />
During school time, we try to have her play quietly or color in coloring books. Our biggest challenge right now is getting her to consistently wear her glasses, and trying to find them when she takes them off any old place. I'm trying to teach her to give them to me when she takes them off and I've a little success with this. She recently got new glasses that are much easier on her so she wears them longer.<br />
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The rest of the morning is pretty much free time for her - to play with her toys or siblings or just hang out with mommy.<br />
At lunchtime she is fed and gets her second juice (we found out that she is milk intolerant - we are trying out lactose free milk, but haven't figured out if it works or not yet) and some yogurt. If she needs it she gets another breathing treatment at this time. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6MtD9ZhQTkLxPog_v3JXdDnwjut5O90PpRHjn_L807KBN22WCCUogJu1aE-UPq2OXAesoJhEVgX635p4yu21n_qIHnre3mei8H1_si__1pZPEzwEzz_DsAQ9FPa4IjUNprW3AhrlxgF0/s1600/Esther+N+horses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6MtD9ZhQTkLxPog_v3JXdDnwjut5O90PpRHjn_L807KBN22WCCUogJu1aE-UPq2OXAesoJhEVgX635p4yu21n_qIHnre3mei8H1_si__1pZPEzwEzz_DsAQ9FPa4IjUNprW3AhrlxgF0/s320/Esther+N+horses.jpg" width="286" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here is Esther playing with ponies<br />
- she's making the kiss!<br />
As you can see, she goes cross eyed <br />
when not wearing her glasses<br />
and trying to focus on something close.</td></tr>
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After some play time she goes down for her nap at 2 pm and is allowed to sleep as late as 5 pm, but we wake her up then if she's still sleeping so she can be ready for dinner. She gets another breathing treatment before dinner if needed.<br />
When daddy gets home she gets excited and will often sign to us the I need to go greet him with a hug, and she'll usually give him a hug and ask to be picked up. She's really getting fond of her daddy!<br />
She loves to climb up to the dinner table once it's set and "re-organize" things...and is usually very ready for dinner. She is not a fast eater and likes to warm up to her food, often pushing it away at first and then taking it back when she's ready for it. She is usually just getting into the swing of eating when we are done, so she continues to eat while we have family devotions.<br />
For the rest of the evening she plays with her siblings or watches a movie snuggling with mommy or daddy.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8naOWlkWbA-pYG0m2g8f2zCcf8-LmeSyvGyDByn13JwItFLyDz0jf2f1fzzrvxjshvE0l6eZWByF3hPG7wfzzJ1tv7UGm1rQyhwlYdAP30nBaP692bcSzd7CpShZDyfWmOSAia09B8paK/s1600/Esthers+breating+treatment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8naOWlkWbA-pYG0m2g8f2zCcf8-LmeSyvGyDByn13JwItFLyDz0jf2f1fzzrvxjshvE0l6eZWByF3hPG7wfzzJ1tv7UGm1rQyhwlYdAP30nBaP692bcSzd7CpShZDyfWmOSAia09B8paK/s320/Esthers+breating+treatment.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther is so used to her breathing treatment that<br />
she will usually hold it for herself!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Around 8:30 it's time to get ready for bed, which includes getting on pajamas, removing her braces and shoes, a breathing treatment if needed, brushing teeth (she doesn't like this, but she tolerates it if you give her breaks). Then I put her to bed, and we pray together. I kiss her good night and say what I've said to all the kids for over 25 years at bedtime - "Good night, I love you, See you in the morning".<br />
She is usually a good sleeper, but she quite frequently decides to leave a little gift in her diaper after being tucked in for the night, and she will refuse to go to sleep until her diaper is changed...otherwise we usually don't hear from her again until morning (unless she's sick and wakes during the night needing meds/comforting).<br />
Life for Esther has been not very consistent while I've been sick, but now that I'm feeling better I am going to try to get her/me back onto her normal routine. But that will only last until she becomes a big sister (Carese, Esther's little sister in hiding, is due to join our family around April 2nd). I do have her routine posted on the dry erase board, so it is possible for the girls to do everything for her, but with me out of commission for a while, things will be out the normal for her for a while, to say the least.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvqULIRArMh6EC51jAmqpC98wpoPcLRCGcrY1JQosYBDJ6dvNUuBX-PihcQCsTd6s0pyTUcZFo6Emm3Tq8XsFImy-0sXkDIEPJhZXv0VZOQu4Fz6DUla2FFxDZnYkHKKgas8ykDQNsr31/s1600/Esther+cuddling+against+Carese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOvqULIRArMh6EC51jAmqpC98wpoPcLRCGcrY1JQosYBDJ6dvNUuBX-PihcQCsTd6s0pyTUcZFo6Emm3Tq8XsFImy-0sXkDIEPJhZXv0VZOQu4Fz6DUla2FFxDZnYkHKKgas8ykDQNsr31/s320/Esther+cuddling+against+Carese.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther cuddling with Mommy, using my baby belly as a pillow<br />
- Carese will usually kick Esther when she does this!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-35633722598017973782011-10-26T14:57:00.000-07:002011-10-26T14:57:01.486-07:00A busy summer/fall!Esther is now Three Years Old! And she's wearing glasses!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZX5bs0STtaU3AdxGUD8GsNxqY5TsAniqC_f7RrNV1_NKzsw9vcd0S9haGzc6ipIQBWAUd2HvFnbG4cvHIaA3jsaKwXbIf_uikPlkbHvAYqyeuzXNz2QxUv8-YzMoUoX5vzl5nnV59AXAw/s1600/Esther+got+glasses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZX5bs0STtaU3AdxGUD8GsNxqY5TsAniqC_f7RrNV1_NKzsw9vcd0S9haGzc6ipIQBWAUd2HvFnbG4cvHIaA3jsaKwXbIf_uikPlkbHvAYqyeuzXNz2QxUv8-YzMoUoX5vzl5nnV59AXAw/s320/Esther+got+glasses.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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She is also going to be a big sister! We are expecting blessing #12 on April 2nd! <br />
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That is why I haven't posted any updates for Esther since July!<br />
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Here's some updates for Esther right now - She is not currently in any therapies right now because she graduated out of the birth to three program on her birthday. She is doing really well on all developmental levels. She's behind typically developing children, but not that far, and she gains ground all the time as she is one motivated little girl!<br />
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Most parents of children with Down Syndrome put their children in public school preschool programs at 3 years of age so they can continue to get the free therapy. We have chosen to not participate in that at this time. We found out that we can enroll her and only go in once a week for a 1 hour session to see a speech therapist for 30 minutes and then an occupational therapist for 30, but for now we are happy with her learning here at home with all her busy siblings.<br />
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She has been very healthy this summer and fall. We have experimented with less and less thickening for her liquids and she did so well that now the only thing we thicken is her morning juice as we give her all her medications in the drink and the thickening helps to get the meds to suspend in the drink - but we are only doing half the thickening for that now too!<br />
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She is using more verbal communications - and we are starting to pick up on more of them. She is beginning to call family members by name and says words like "thank you" and "baby" and "please", although people outside out family would probably not understand them - but we do! <br />
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Her latest favorite things to do are playing/hugging/kissing her baby dolls, escaping out the front door (we now try to keep it padlocked as she will go outside in the cold without her coat/shoe), giving hugs to everyone (we call them hug-fests), praying at meals and at bed time (and sometimes over her snacks/juice too!), saying new words and having us know what she is saying and she still loves to be cuddled anytime, anywhere!<br />
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One very exciting thing is that Esther is featured on the Smiles of Life calendar this coming year - they should be out any time now - you can see the photos we took on my last blog post. If you are interested in getting a copy of the calendar, leave a comment and I'll let you know once I know how to get them!Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-65047495353089227362011-07-18T16:28:00.000-07:002012-06-12T10:05:32.914-07:00Esther's Photo Shoot!I submitted an application to see if Esther could be included in the <a href="http://news.arcwhatcom.org/2009/10/smiles-of-life-2010-calendars.html">2011 Smiles Calendar</a> and she was accepted back in June. Last Friday we met with Amy and Lesley for Esther's photo shoot.<br />
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When we got there, the photographer was not there a her camera had not been working properly and she had to go home to get her back up camera. So while we waited, we did our own little photo shoot:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCMuXhxAgM9IT85DNHjPbahks5TU7MtQOYBQSCLGzIRMFjbNBOpalEeuwHudeJkJ9n3r75AiT98Ehxe6NPxyWDDl3qPmJGGFjVflHEFTbUAl53zonFFIY0leRI4JqGWiT2mEdfzSIUI3y/s1600/EstherNJessica7-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjCMuXhxAgM9IT85DNHjPbahks5TU7MtQOYBQSCLGzIRMFjbNBOpalEeuwHudeJkJ9n3r75AiT98Ehxe6NPxyWDDl3qPmJGGFjVflHEFTbUAl53zonFFIY0leRI4JqGWiT2mEdfzSIUI3y/s640/EstherNJessica7-11.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jessica and Esther watching the boats - this photo is my favorite for style...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMOQt7CGqWq1U0u_fvSt6yzB45P39A3Uk_oj4VgzwaqyFBSheQrK80fFdotrF-Kl9Eu-3dLPe5fC-QiqK29wVUXvJTZBw-ffhV4R_vGVDybIolvEm7bGHeA9-kFusUdfmOzBLQYwY2Vpm/s1600/JessicaNEsther7-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwMOQt7CGqWq1U0u_fvSt6yzB45P39A3Uk_oj4VgzwaqyFBSheQrK80fFdotrF-Kl9Eu-3dLPe5fC-QiqK29wVUXvJTZBw-ffhV4R_vGVDybIolvEm7bGHeA9-kFusUdfmOzBLQYwY2Vpm/s1600/JessicaNEsther7-11.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More boat watching</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaihqHm_ZRl15Urmi4Xx_LeFaQvIOCt0A_caeWh6DkTzzyOTYyxCKUV82gYQMY5i9CiYv3Hc8T6-2nT6m40cGNthWC6TqnhcnGq_50ec83T567c_8B5_b0VrFowYjDh_kX0hdmdnkl_Tpu/s1600/Estherhugsmom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaihqHm_ZRl15Urmi4Xx_LeFaQvIOCt0A_caeWh6DkTzzyOTYyxCKUV82gYQMY5i9CiYv3Hc8T6-2nT6m40cGNthWC6TqnhcnGq_50ec83T567c_8B5_b0VrFowYjDh_kX0hdmdnkl_Tpu/s400/Estherhugsmom.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther gives THE BEST HUGS in the world!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gVQLbCOc45c4Oo4KVQVzEFq9vShHLn3D8NzVpfiq5xPcG8t9S4sEDw9oyybONqHtgCwnMN7Skt9sUnixv_PP6r_UNhcseYNABcmlLvkV7Sa5pP7srG8DSXNsf__VMQibpDtEfaVnSB4z/s1600/Esther7-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8gVQLbCOc45c4Oo4KVQVzEFq9vShHLn3D8NzVpfiq5xPcG8t9S4sEDw9oyybONqHtgCwnMN7Skt9sUnixv_PP6r_UNhcseYNABcmlLvkV7Sa5pP7srG8DSXNsf__VMQibpDtEfaVnSB4z/s1600/Esther7-11.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And she is so stinkin' cute!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVpahx6SYHNlwMKLON0OQAmsovSPO_clNKw1gbBmtpnxe4klmBAcnwxpPaiIPNEcA2q0XaibCfSIxklUaQHERKsBpzRDmYAiouPRpjWTM1DrcYjLoxAB8FbrqRZDgp7H54UIMuHqaBdUh/s1600/EsthersPhoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmVpahx6SYHNlwMKLON0OQAmsovSPO_clNKw1gbBmtpnxe4klmBAcnwxpPaiIPNEcA2q0XaibCfSIxklUaQHERKsBpzRDmYAiouPRpjWTM1DrcYjLoxAB8FbrqRZDgp7H54UIMuHqaBdUh/s400/EsthersPhoto.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther being a little uncooperative, but she did quite well and was even adorable photogenic at times!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDX9uzPSA5LzEmHJ4oHYJMUBfv-Wcz9dpJKjxhT2lRGddPf0z3J3QQOdF_XYsVrpbqqcrlZZ9xBz_SCD5kNbNjBspVmNPSRJMT6a7fe9avYKItStQXJacxsp6Z0otXAQ54Mympr9p_ukzw/s1600/EstherNJessicawalking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDX9uzPSA5LzEmHJ4oHYJMUBfv-Wcz9dpJKjxhT2lRGddPf0z3J3QQOdF_XYsVrpbqqcrlZZ9xBz_SCD5kNbNjBspVmNPSRJMT6a7fe9avYKItStQXJacxsp6Z0otXAQ54Mympr9p_ukzw/s1600/EstherNJessicawalking.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sisterly Love...so sweet!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHDnAy_tgzvX9siRkT6nQmHYi8yEml_KEM7p_jt_tANdYwxx53JufRerSLcbioYwGaCxvb5B1-QI_342FEPp9GFm47RKHkljdwbVZbS82RPP9lZkbf3OHSApIDcGsPD5B1S6f0iNDUoGh/s1600/EstherNJessicawalking2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYHDnAy_tgzvX9siRkT6nQmHYi8yEml_KEM7p_jt_tANdYwxx53JufRerSLcbioYwGaCxvb5B1-QI_342FEPp9GFm47RKHkljdwbVZbS82RPP9lZkbf3OHSApIDcGsPD5B1S6f0iNDUoGh/s640/EstherNJessicawalking2.jpg" width="468" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think she was trying to take big steps just like her big sister!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-33685779948865607482011-07-11T12:18:00.000-07:002011-07-11T12:18:50.660-07:00Esther's SootherMost babies hold onto and/or rub something when they are soothing themselves. A "blankie" seems to be the most common. Esther has an unusual item that she uses to sooth herself, and she uses it when she is sucking her thumb:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MzvhmTcwQjvhEEN1PFCGTHiW1-TVGBDLN_2_aOje6HYUjOn1jONjy9ODpI5Y2Of_MCNRY-STxAMw20_XtHNFCZ-qeWcC94EkdVGJ6qxP0td9XFLMx-4Fu0BR7ffqu9nxpmYKcfBjI29O/s1600/EstherHair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5MzvhmTcwQjvhEEN1PFCGTHiW1-TVGBDLN_2_aOje6HYUjOn1jONjy9ODpI5Y2Of_MCNRY-STxAMw20_XtHNFCZ-qeWcC94EkdVGJ6qxP0td9XFLMx-4Fu0BR7ffqu9nxpmYKcfBjI29O/s320/EstherHair.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2awFMQEP5x5r1fS6dljLzrz1yDTlI2r_6AZkBoR3VbCYmja9h53Gfj1PExJZ-5-f4UJpRxdU7-skGkWSRU75TyeVVTCnPwgSR9xxn1uBv4v7dtcFZ_ovIKOjRc7huTQg2brge7ogrKsEe/s1600/EsthersHair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2awFMQEP5x5r1fS6dljLzrz1yDTlI2r_6AZkBoR3VbCYmja9h53Gfj1PExJZ-5-f4UJpRxdU7-skGkWSRU75TyeVVTCnPwgSR9xxn1uBv4v7dtcFZ_ovIKOjRc7huTQg2brge7ogrKsEe/s320/EsthersHair.jpg" width="275" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>Her Hair!</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She plays with her pony tail, pig tail, whatever...in this case she had gone to bed without a pony tail so she "played" with her hair all night long turning into the hairdo reminiscent of the 1960's bee hives!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">It looked worse that it was...she's made worse before - one mat took me over 1/2 hour to get out!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">But there's one blessing in this "smoother" - it can't get lost!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6663719895299477409.post-22267074421806308942011-07-07T11:34:00.001-07:002011-07-07T11:38:31.174-07:00A New Blog is Born......well, kind of anyway! I have sent many people to my blog for them to read about our dear, sweet Esther...and I do blog about her probably more than any of my other children! This is not that she is more loved (although that might be true), but because, in general, her life has many more "news worthy" events! <br />
<br />
I have imported all my blog posts from the past that had anything to do with Esther's first couple of years, so you will find lots of things in the posts that don't need to be there in order to tell Esther's story, but then, again, Esther's story is part of our family story and visa versa!<br />
<br />
I haven't had a post just about Esther in a while, so I'm going to do an update and talk about events in Esther's life over the past year or so, and touch of some of the health issues we have faced this year.<br />
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Last October, Esther started walking for the first time. She had gone in to Cascade Orthotics, right here in Ferndale, and she was fitted with little pink and white orthotics in order to stabilize her ankles. Children with Down Syndrome tend to have extra flexibility and join laxity due to their low muscle tone. Many of them need extra support for their ankles to prevent them from collapsing inward, leading to deterioration of the bones over the course of years and increasing their difficulty in walking. The orthotics usually are not needed once the muscles and bones "remember" the proper positioning. This usually takes a couple of years, but in some cases the orthotics are needed for a lifetime. Esther has never minded them, and actually enjoys helping me put them on. The biggest challenge in our busy household is to make sure she wears them everyday! <br />
<br />
Here's what they look like:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iYqdDEZjHM0x-MgJJT1LI8cg3sXgrp5dlyIELisndSntfcl9J_G9_0jZPIhV-wKTg4a3kQLFrVxm4KkGYy365rkoS3ZZpp5SNAqCKaCCuP3zE2Ix8aj3nGp357LCLifauSX4xGfBMbrK/s1600/orthotics2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0iYqdDEZjHM0x-MgJJT1LI8cg3sXgrp5dlyIELisndSntfcl9J_G9_0jZPIhV-wKTg4a3kQLFrVxm4KkGYy365rkoS3ZZpp5SNAqCKaCCuP3zE2Ix8aj3nGp357LCLifauSX4xGfBMbrK/s320/orthotics2.jpg" width="278" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJP9Zl-pqjgtYeC7aQLUkKq8XJEmppY3BuUkZqQnuDf86-i2dZJeYPycomRW8aGNVnw1ihWPLJwTvddoVRXoHxZyt_E1vV_jpUjDaqOWC_88Dy7Qvm74N074ruBEJf31gS_NLw3i09V0v_/s1600/orthotics1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJP9Zl-pqjgtYeC7aQLUkKq8XJEmppY3BuUkZqQnuDf86-i2dZJeYPycomRW8aGNVnw1ihWPLJwTvddoVRXoHxZyt_E1vV_jpUjDaqOWC_88Dy7Qvm74N074ruBEJf31gS_NLw3i09V0v_/s320/orthotics1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">With her shoes on (the insole is removed from the shoe) you can hardly tell that she has them on...just a little pink and clear plastic poking up. Her gate (how she walks, especially how far apart her feet are) is much better when she has them on, and she can walk faster as well. She is also more stable on uneven ground.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Esther has had a wonderful occupational therapists visiting us twice a month all through this past year. Shannon is so sweet and good with Esther and really helped us come up with ideas to strengthen her core muscles to improve her stability, strength and proper walking mechanism. Esther walked with almost no bend to her knees and hips at first, kind of like walking on stilts. Then she did good bending her knees, but not at lifting her thighs/bending at the top leg joint. So we did practice walking on my bed, up stairs, and doing sitting to standing and back down practice. Her feet are quite close together when she walks now and we are very pleased with her progress. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Esther was also seeing a pediatric opthamologist this past fall and winter as we were concerned about her eyes crossing at times. This seems to be more prominent when she is tired, but we are seeing it more often right now...so we might be heading back down to Mt Vernon for eye appts again...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Esther has been on thyroid medicines since she was just 2 months old, so we have to take her in every 3 months for blood work to see if she has out grown her current dose. She has dosage increases twice, once at 15 months and once this past winter. It takes a while to get it right, and we did need to tweak it again in the spring. Keeping her thyroid supported means that she will have fewer problems that are common to people with Trisomy 21 - short stature, thin hair, dry skin, weight gain, brain development...those are all things that are controlled by the Thyroid so it's critical that the thyroid function is monitored in these children. She and other may still have problems in those areas, but proper thyroid support can minimize them.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last summer Esther had two bouts of near pneumonia when no one in our home was sick. Her speech therapists believed that she was having aspiration issues, so we tried to do a swallow study, but Esther did not cooperate at all. So we decided to treat her as though she had aspiration issues and began to use Thick-It to thicken all her liquids to nectar consistency. Her breathing cleared up and for the first time that I could remember I could not hear "junk" in her respirations! It was wonderful! She had a very healthy fall and winter that I am sure it mostly due to the change in her liquids!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Esther has just completed 1 year since her last cardiology appointment, so she has one more year before she has to go back to Seattle Children's Hospital for her next check up. So everything is going great on that count.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxZjjzil47cXHgCGxtLSMmxjBos_lMoB14jwldI9CjAezL-dw8kXf0-avRblC7Q2UH8CcoCHj5zwrtR-fReYABGOhK65O6zso_bWSrS-YpwbDo5LOsO3jPVpxJggGXAGdGk0Uu5YOd9ex/s1600/estherswimming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguxZjjzil47cXHgCGxtLSMmxjBos_lMoB14jwldI9CjAezL-dw8kXf0-avRblC7Q2UH8CcoCHj5zwrtR-fReYABGOhK65O6zso_bWSrS-YpwbDo5LOsO3jPVpxJggGXAGdGk0Uu5YOd9ex/s320/estherswimming.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">swimming with Rachel</td></tr>
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<br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Esther's one big batter this year was just this past spring. Our entire family came down with a really bad respiratory bug...it sent most of us to bed for a week and took weeks to recover from. Esther did get it, and did well for the first week or so, but then her breathing began sounding terrible. We ended up in ER twice and were giving her breathing treatments at home...and we went to the doctor's office once as well. Finally I went to the doctor to get myself treated for a sinus infection, and then I decided that no matter what I was taking Esther in the next morning just to see if she was doing OK. She wasn't - I took her to the doctor's appointment and they immediately did a breathing treatment, then off to ex-rays, then another breathing treatment...then they said she needed to be hospitalized immediately. So we rushed her to the hospital and spent 5 days there as they worked to battle her pneumonia. She had two kinds - bacterial and aspiration pneumonia. The aspiration was not from her drinking liquids, but due to aspirating the fluids/mucous from her nose and throat. This can be very serious. She was very lethargic for the first couple of days, but perked up after that. She recovered nicely once home and has not had any further respiration issues since then. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last month she wasn't feeling well and had several bouts of crying as though she was in pain (she hardly every complains about anything, so we take crying very seriously with her). I took her in after about a week of these nightly crying spells and found that she had developed an ears infection. No cold symptoms, just pain to let us know. So she was back on antibiotics once again, but recovered nicely...now if her poor digestive system would just recover from them we'd be in great shape!</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0L-1uX1VoReE7lNMBmuQjU0bHvJlZt8gBBETi2uNiwS4NIxt4CBj4W6lixwo3WcOzBDoZRzOZz46Nyk-hmVsSveDZV46sB7JRnKVW8N9qRkfyYpePk_kRVC1LGjbVjUpPSgSaG-QATuev/s1600/Estherplayingsoftball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0L-1uX1VoReE7lNMBmuQjU0bHvJlZt8gBBETi2uNiwS4NIxt4CBj4W6lixwo3WcOzBDoZRzOZz46Nyk-hmVsSveDZV46sB7JRnKVW8N9qRkfyYpePk_kRVC1LGjbVjUpPSgSaG-QATuev/s320/Estherplayingsoftball.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">playing softball in our front yard..</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8el7iK5P1gsVR69WlhcllLvzVFN3B7pb_AuUzWwC-JGn93Nl4v5aD9nXoLHfsAVzv2tV_1H-tNKLZD28v_28vDuJKfYjn698wE3VbbC_urpiOBWJOFYUezdwR0sUDXH8Ts8dGuo6MKAyz/s1600/Estherwaitingtorunhome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8el7iK5P1gsVR69WlhcllLvzVFN3B7pb_AuUzWwC-JGn93Nl4v5aD9nXoLHfsAVzv2tV_1H-tNKLZD28v_28vDuJKfYjn698wE3VbbC_urpiOBWJOFYUezdwR0sUDXH8Ts8dGuo6MKAyz/s320/Estherwaitingtorunhome.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">waiting patiently for the opportunity to run home...<br />
she also took the time to look at the cereal box that we used for third base!</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Currently she is no longer going to Bellingham for speech therapy as Shannon is on maternity leave and Esther's first home speech therapist, Vicky, is back with us. Esther can communicate quite well. She has about 15 signs that she can do, including please, more, ball, drink, all done and others. She also has many words as well like Mom, mommy, cat, ball, hi, hi dad, yeah and others. We are currently working on Thank You (she can do it, but it needs re-enforcement), and outside. We are trying to distiguish her sign for drinking and having her sign for eating that is different - right now it's mostly the same, but she has signed for eat with an open hand, so we are close!</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgXB1MUmV_ani-VJIsYZdDQXeoE7QA8BPr8CIKJLXuHZBLB1l6ryTOUEbB6fyKlcWRXgGmezUeR5tAJf3Qzpv-lsPZ6tJ_gPS67ZD5Mzk-2nLn1YnqpJnHpea61QD9IDxOiVtNuC2-pY_/s1600/estheratsoftball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijgXB1MUmV_ani-VJIsYZdDQXeoE7QA8BPr8CIKJLXuHZBLB1l6ryTOUEbB6fyKlcWRXgGmezUeR5tAJf3Qzpv-lsPZ6tJ_gPS67ZD5Mzk-2nLn1YnqpJnHpea61QD9IDxOiVtNuC2-pY_/s320/estheratsoftball.jpg" width="182" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Esther love clapping for daddy's softball team!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgNmEd7todO4ub-NRjmq0jNw8XNaYtArYyg-_D3z-OiFbl7PPAqz-NYZngPEMUbPfERONLAlu3GexghKhd9cG4u1hyvlO-IosK5ZYgdgFe0MzIuHBGOECHBsp3Du0OuHHCC0uhUMqPtqm/s1600/esthersleepingonme.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJgNmEd7todO4ub-NRjmq0jNw8XNaYtArYyg-_D3z-OiFbl7PPAqz-NYZngPEMUbPfERONLAlu3GexghKhd9cG4u1hyvlO-IosK5ZYgdgFe0MzIuHBGOECHBsp3Du0OuHHCC0uhUMqPtqm/s320/esthersleepingonme.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">sleeping on me...this is a regular event around here</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Esther favorite activities are clapping and waving (she absolutely loved the 4th of July parade and loves going to daddy's softball games), playing on the trampoline with the kids, swimming in our pool with her big siblings, wandering around our big yard, clearing surfaces (tables, chairs), and giving big hugs. She loves to cuddle and sometimes will give kisses too.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsGerTQSSr6l1Ko34lxyLuQRoT6HlS3Z0DmJYPwCFtJCuPxNmggGOvCG4kqbLIo58yI5iEUmqhV8DIAhd8EjS3CrPEQOtiuJFr-3AWnKtxOmrOxX83DpRYkQ977p-FprUQVrSakKJ7voc/s1600/esther+cleaning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsGerTQSSr6l1Ko34lxyLuQRoT6HlS3Z0DmJYPwCFtJCuPxNmggGOvCG4kqbLIo58yI5iEUmqhV8DIAhd8EjS3CrPEQOtiuJFr-3AWnKtxOmrOxX83DpRYkQ977p-FprUQVrSakKJ7voc/s320/esther+cleaning.jpg" width="296" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here she is putting a pillow where it belongs</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7yvFbf6lWe4CQ1bkuOOQSo77J6SCglGQZHiNyvcw0bFYDX3W6DsEbdOHZIbeZn5-ILb6xrhEREBKzBju2m64-4wTKf5jEyn6HHz1Nara7IcmpLKtK3s5jYltAk_bGahQthu0vsansBwbH/s1600/estherdoinglaundry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7yvFbf6lWe4CQ1bkuOOQSo77J6SCglGQZHiNyvcw0bFYDX3W6DsEbdOHZIbeZn5-ILb6xrhEREBKzBju2m64-4wTKf5jEyn6HHz1Nara7IcmpLKtK3s5jYltAk_bGahQthu0vsansBwbH/s320/estherdoinglaundry.jpg" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...helping with the laundry</td></tr>
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</div>Esther also sucks her thumb (our first thumb sucker), and is left handed like me and her sister, Elizabeth. But she can use either hand for most things as well. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNZOpKa34m4lhg2zHrozz_Dy5IRhc2wpvKhNycdYPqCNMrC4SYdA7MPEqDhyphenhyphenfHqrLFFwTJdCCpjzpaxxtVFU6gyqF12QF0m6f49ywxi2qc380OrFzhKXUToSRfKt98DQZFWGgbp-UiqtG/s1600/esthersucking+thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQNZOpKa34m4lhg2zHrozz_Dy5IRhc2wpvKhNycdYPqCNMrC4SYdA7MPEqDhyphenhyphenfHqrLFFwTJdCCpjzpaxxtVFU6gyqF12QF0m6f49ywxi2qc380OrFzhKXUToSRfKt98DQZFWGgbp-UiqtG/s320/esthersucking+thumb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I think that's about all and brings things up to date. I'll try to post more things hear as they come to mind, and especially post more photos of her here regularly!</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Lastly, here are some photos I took when a young lady, Ali, that I had met at bowling last year came over with a sweater she had crocheted for Esther - as you can see Esther loves and sweater and we had a great time with Ali that day!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEqr8Hvv_jo8ueZSHtJmqDwNgV8X1Yuy07p0yjtF1svva0hWOIiZpj1ZpUlEth9Rv3nDc2QMl_B5-VAekRNzq7_9kypNZrqiUIIKf5N0VR-5zo3u8mq-_Vg9pVQyLvCHoWZhbz6PI_5-J/s1600/ESther+Happy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAEqr8Hvv_jo8ueZSHtJmqDwNgV8X1Yuy07p0yjtF1svva0hWOIiZpj1ZpUlEth9Rv3nDc2QMl_B5-VAekRNzq7_9kypNZrqiUIIKf5N0VR-5zo3u8mq-_Vg9pVQyLvCHoWZhbz6PI_5-J/s320/ESther+Happy.jpg" width="292" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2VMW-9OLEsIKdn00_LeO20c7GrUsPGquHUd-Pbr_hGgGIOI3G7keQ6BpbSvlhrU4rpxqLwoj4L0udNmkv6zu7H8FiRRftWF-CPUtC-fNSEc3Yhyphenhypheneoj4ZRhPuO68Wp5SvIA4ufUBNqY2R/s1600/ESther+and+Ali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG2VMW-9OLEsIKdn00_LeO20c7GrUsPGquHUd-Pbr_hGgGIOI3G7keQ6BpbSvlhrU4rpxqLwoj4L0udNmkv6zu7H8FiRRftWF-CPUtC-fNSEc3Yhyphenhypheneoj4ZRhPuO68Wp5SvIA4ufUBNqY2R/s320/ESther+and+Ali.jpg" width="275" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Ruth Ehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00297156024421986096noreply@blogger.com0