This week I have missed this - our silly, happy, talkative MK! Tuesday we discovered that she had Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. I now have two viruses that I will avoid as if they were the Plague - HFM and the stomach virus. What began as one seemless little blister on her gums, transformed into a raging bunch of ulcers covering every.last.bit of her mouth, throat, tongue, cheeks and everything in between. She has not eaten in days. Yes, DAYS. She will only drink Publix very sweet tea - never has she been given tea before! She is quiet and the only sounds she makes in when the pain gets so unbearable she begins to cry, big, wet crocodile tears. Last night, when I reached the brink of my sanity, I dug deep into our medicine supply and found some pain relief meds that were offered to us post-op....that, along with a concoction the pharmacist suggested, gave a bit of relief. The only good that has come of this is some good cuddling time for mommy :) Please say a prayer for our girl!

Tonight our power went out.

C was at basketball practice. P was supposed to be at a baseball game. MK was SICK. And Maddox was exhausted after a long day of play.

I curled up in the bed with Maddox and held her little body against mine while she settled in for a good night's rest. As I lay there, it occurred to me.....just seven short months ago, on this day, our baby girl was given to us. She was stiff as a board, screaming and scared to death. Now, seven months later, she is nestled in my arms asleep. Seven months.

I was subtly reminded earlier in the day just how short seven months really is in comparison to the nineteen that she spent in China. We began occupational therapy today for Maddox. The therapist was working with her and asked me if Maddox was walking when we got her. I responded yes. She went on to say, "Yes, I am thinking she never crawled. Have you ever seen her crawl?" I was a bit dumbfounded as I sat back and thought, "Geez, what parent doesn't know if their child ever crawled or not?!!!" But, no, I don't recall Maddox crawling. I was most concerned about walking and she could do that.

Seven months home. The first nineteen months of her life we know little about but I can tell you detail for detail on her seven months home.

A Girls Gotta Eat!

Our Graduate

Not too long after we returned from China, we became acquainted with the speech therapist at our local elementary school. "Miss Colleen" became our go-to friend when we had a speech related question or just needed encouragement. When MK turned three, we crossed our fingers that Miss Colleen would become MK's therapist and, as luck would have it, she did! For almost two years, we have worked night after night to accomplish our speech goals set for MK by Miss Colleen. And for the same amount of time, Miss Colleen has offered her smiling face and open arms each and every time we have gone in for therapy - twice a week! Miss Colleen and MK are kindred spirits, each loving their girly-girl fashion and bling. Though we were so pleased to hear that MK has met all of her speech goals and no longer needs speech therapy, we were all sad to say goodbye - the good news is that we are more than positive Maddox will be entering Miss Colleen's sessions next year so we asked her just to save our spot and we would see her soon:)

To MK: Sweet girl, you have come so far. You have been home for 3 years and 7 months. We love watching you grow and we love these special days when we get to cheer you on and celebrate your accomplishments!