Friendship Resurrection

Yes, it really has been four years since my last post.  I have no excuse.  A blog is like an old friend you haven't spoken to in years.  You miss them.  You have guilt about not staying in touch.  You want to reach out and say, "Hi"...but what excuse can you possible come up with that explains the long absence?  I haven't been in a coma.  I haven't lost the address.  I've been raising two kids. Living a life.  Surely that's reason enough.  But then I would have to admit my life doesn't include my old friend - Julie's Fun Life.  Sometimes you just have to take a chance and try to resurrect the old friendship and see if we can pick up where we left off.  That's the great thing about old friends;  it doesn't matter how much time has passed, the feelings remain.  So, I can't wait to start writing again and share my journey with an old friend.  If you enjoy it too, then that's another reason to start again and see where this Fun Life takes us.

Pinkalicious

To celebrate Eva Mei's last week of soft foods we made pink cupcakes. Why Pink? Eva's new favorite book is Pinkalicious by Victoria & Elizabeth Kann. Pinkalicious is a little girl that made pink cupcakes with her mom and ate so many that she turned pink. Eva likes to turn to the page where daddy scolds Pinkalicious for eating too many cupcakes. She points to Pinkalicious and says, "naughty" or "no-no." Our matching cupcake aprons were made by our Aunt Vera Neely.

Eva helped me put all the ingredients in the bowl and even cracked the eggs, which she thought was pretty cool. I had to pull apart the cracked eggs so Miss Clean wouldn't get her precious fingers dirty. That's one thing that Eva still doesn't like is being dirty or messy, and I'm thankful for that. After we put all the ingredients in the bowl, we put it on the KitchenAid mixer, of course. Eva wanted to help with that, but I didn't want her to get too close and put her fingers near the mixer.She patiently waited for the mixing to finish and then she was ready to eat it. I told her she had to wait for them to cook in the oven, but she could lick the spoon when I was done. Eva just learned what licking is from her liquid diet. She's been licking a lot of ice cream in the last few weeks. She really liked the pink batter.

Frosting the cupcakes wasn't as much fun as eating them. Again, I had to help her do it so she didn't get any on her fingers. Once she finished frosting and putting sprinkles on she was ready to eat them. I didn't want her to turn pink, so she could only have one. She of course wanted more and kept whining for more all day. I just kept telling her I didn't want her to turn pink like Pinkalicious. She didn't really go for that, but she agreed to wait until dinner for another one.

Priorities

I'm not sure if there is anyone left who still reads my blog...as I'm a very inconsistent blogger. Eva's just been a very high maintenance patient lately. Her surgery went well on July 16. Her first week home she developed Thrush (fungal infection in her mouth) so that didn't help her situation. She then started to have serious mental health issues. After having daily crying spells that we could not stop, my social worker and I decided we needed to see a professional. Eva waking up in Daddy's arms.

Eva and Mei mei sleeping after surgery.

Eva starts play therapy next week and we hope this will help her develop the connections in her brain to help deal with trauma. Eva appears to be reliving the trauma she experienced as an orphan and with her first surgery in China. I'm looking forward to it as the Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde personalities are about driving me to therapy. Two weeks after surgery, Eva posing on the back deck.

On a happier note, Eva is now talking more and using a big girl cup (normal open cup) with out anything coming out her nose. She knows her colors now and some of the alphabet. The letter 'A' is now called 'Apple' and 'U' is called 'Umbrella'. Eva loves to sing 'Jesus Loves Me' and 'The Itsy Bitsy Spider'. She does not like bugs and tells the flies to 'shoefly' and 'fly away home'. She loves water and we're due to get back to Meijer Garden to play in the fountain. She starts preschool next month and Mom couldn't be more excited for her. ; )