It's hard to believe it's been one year since we held our little Kahlia for the first time in Pune, India. We have had quite a year - completely exhausting, but I wouldn't trade one single day - Kahlia has been such a blessing to me and our family - I am thankful that God has brought her into our lives forever. She has made such huge changes this first year - it's hard to imagine what she will be doing in another year - hopefully talking!!! :-)
This last weekend, Mother's Day weekend, my parents watched Kahlia while I took Makenna to a Mother/daughter retreat at Tilikum Retreat Center. It was the first time we had left her by herself - with out even her siblings. My parents said she did great - she has a special bond with her grandpa Brown!!
A week in a half ago, we thought Kahlia may have broken her right ankle - she wouldn't put pressure on it, and wouldn't even try to walk. After having it xrayed and nothing came up, we just waited and after a week in a half, she seems to be back walking normally - I guess she just had a little sprain! I would not have enjoyed the idea of a cast on her foot/leg for 6-8 weeks - yuck! As for her walking, she is doing fabulous. She is getting better at walking on uneven surfaces, inclines, grass, etc. She still is very cautious and walks a little like a wet noodle, but she is a very determined little girl, and does not give up easily. She keeps trying and trying until she gets it - now if she would just try that with her speech!! :-)
We have scheduled for Scott to take Kahlia to Seattle Childrens Hospital next month. She will be seeing a doctor in the infectious disease clinic. I want to get this giardia taken care of once and for all! Though slowly, she is still growing. She is now wearing 18 month clothes, and size 3 shoes. She's finally outgrowing the clothes that she wore when we first brought her home last May. It has been fun to finally have her wear new clothes this spring!!! We are hoping to schedule soon for her to have a consult with the doctor that Scott wants to have do Kahlia's next cleft palate surgery. We do not plan on using the same surgeon we used last time. I really want to get the surgery done soon so we can start some intense speech therapy! She still attempts very little speech. She won't even try. She says momma - and a few other vowel matching words - like "o" for hot, and "i" for hi, and "ni ni" for night night, but that's about it. Her signing vocabulary continues to grow, which is great - except when she goes places where people do not know any sign!!
Baseball season has begun, and between David and Brendon's 2 games a week each plus all 3 still on the swim team, it is making a very, very busy spring for us! Kahlia is a little trooper being dragged around all over town, but someday, it will be her turn! :-)
As I reflect on how God has watched over us this past year, I am truly amazed at his faithfulness to each member of our family. He has taught us all so many lessons - lessons of patience, selflessness, and His never ending love. Kahlia has touched so many lives this past year - she has given everyone around her indescribable joy. Her endless and beautiful smiles, adorable laughs, and fun personality has been such a blessing to all of us. Yes, she can be absolutely full of it sometimes, she still brings such energy and life to everyone around her - I feel so blessed to call her my daughter!!
Though this blog focuses on Kahlia, I have 3 other amazing children that I love VERY VERY much!! They along with Kahlia bring me more joy then a mother should be allowed to have. Each child brings something different and special to the family. Spending this past weekend with just Makenna at Tilikum really meant a lot to me. She helps out the most with Kahlia, sacrifices a lot, she deserved a very special one on one with me this weeke end!!
Pictures to be posted soon - I left me camera at my parents, and I won't get it back until Tuesday night!

Giardia, giardia, please go away, please don't come back another day!!! Kahlia was tested postive for giardia AGAIN after her 5th treatment to kill the parasite. She is now needing to go beyond what our pediatrician here can do and even OHSU in Portland. Her pediatrician told me tonight that she is being referred to Seattle Children's Hospital to meet with an Immunologist and have some testing done up there - convenient... :-( We wait for the referral papers to be processed, and we will make the appointment for sometime in the near future. Not sure what this means - time will tell. On the developmental front - she is almost exclusively walking - PRAISE THE LORD!!! She does such a good job! Her base is still wide - her feet are slightly out to help with her balance, but I guess we would too if we had feet just barely bigger then a newborn! She understands most of what we say, and has even begun following simple instructions with out any cues to "help" her. I am so pleased with her progress, and amazed at how far she has come. Exactly 11 months ago today, we saw our little Kahlia for the first time. Even after all this time, the kids continue to amaze me at their special love and bond with her. They never seem to tire of her, and go out of their way to include her any way they can. She is becoming "that pesky 2 year old" when they try to play a game or want to get away from her, but those times are few and far between. Their patience with her is far better then I would have ever expected from a 6,7, and 10 year old. Just yesterday, they took her out and played with her on the swings and play structure for close to an hour. My kids are awesome, and I love them so, so much!! :-) Last weekend, Scott and I got to get away for a much needed couple's retreat in Eugene. It was the first time we had gone away since we have gotten Kahlia, and it was so nice to spend some alone time and actually focus on each other and not all of our kids and the demands they have on us! Wish we could get away more often, but I'll take the times we do have together and cherish them always. Life is good, and I am so grateful for each person in my family!

Exhausting...no other way to put it...Kahlia is busier then both Brendon and Makenna combined when they were her age, and though David gave her a run for her money, she is officially the mischief QUEEN of the family. She literally goes from one thing to the next. Yesterday alone, she climbed onto the table at least 6 times. She gets into food, throws it all over the floor (I especially enjoy the chicken noodle soup and yogurt splattered from one end of the room to the other), scribbles on the kids' homework that they left on the table, swished her hands in the toilet, on and on and on... I know - it's just a season - but I'm ready for this season to pass!!! Because she is unable to talk, her new default is to scream....all the time....over and over... sigh... On a positive note...She is walking SO SO well these days!! She can walk all the way through the living room into Makenna's bedroom with out falling. Yes, she still looks a bit like a wet noodle, but we'll take it. She's doing great. To think that just 9 months ago, she couldn't even pull herself into a sitting position. I need to focus on the positives right now - her cuteness and sweetness is definitely getting her by these days...whew!!! Did I say exhausting???!!!

We're now on kid #2 with fevers this week! Brendon had a fever for 3 days, missed most of his swim meet, and now David woke up with a fever this morning. So far, Kahlia has not gotten the fever. She has an immune deficiency, so we are really watching her closely, but so far so good!! :-) Next Tuesday we can turn in another lab sample to see if she still has Giardia. That is spring break, so who knows where or what we will be doing - depending on what we do, we may not be able to get the sample in until the following week. Looking forward to the break - what I really need to do is repaint - permanent black marker on our walls isn't exactly the "reminders" of Kahlia I would like to keep...she is fast and furious with a pen!
Her walking is getting better and better by the day. She attempts to walk a lot more, and go farther then she has been able to go. My hopes are still alive for her walking by summer! :-) We will see...

Tuesday, Kahlia and I drove to Eugene for her Cardiology appointment with Dr. Carlson - her Cardiologist. From a Cardiology stand point - she couldn't be better. She had 99% oxygen, and she continues to grow - slowly but surely. She is now just over 21 lbs. She's gained almost 5 lbs. in 10 months. Hopefully after we get rid of her Giardia parasite - we will see a more dramatic weight gain...we finished her 5th treatment on Tuesday, but we have to wait 2 weeks before we retest her. I am no longer optimistic...we'll see I guess.

The honeymoon period is officially over. Though Kahlia is as lovable as ever, she is officially exhausting!!! She is into absolutely everything - most recently, she has an infatuation with markers - she writes on her arms, legs, clothes, walls, chairs, couches, and cabinets - you name it, she's probably marked on it. Exhausting beyond words....Scott learned today on the internet that toothpaste can take permanent marker off of wood - good to know - will definitely come in handy in our household! So - washable and permanent markers alike are no longer allowed ANYWHERE that Kahlia can reach - because if she can reach them, she WILL find them. Toys are now boring - CD's, DVD's, kitchen drawers, and the kid's "stuff" is much more exciting then her "boring" toys that we have all over our living room for her!! Looking forward to this stage passing right on by!!

Her hearing aids aren't going so well. I barely put them in her ears because they don't fit well, and fall out constantly. I will only let her wear them when she's at home, and since most of our days are either spent out at her appointments, the other kids' activities, or home taking her nap, she doesn't get the chance to wear them all that much!

Life seems hard right now, I'm hanging on in survival mode - but I am very grateful to be right where I am going through exactly what I am. God is my anchor, and I will continue to keep on keeping on, because that's what I'm called to do!! :-)

I admit, it's been a while since I've posted. Hard to keep up!! Kahlia was tested positive for Giardia for the fourth time. GRRRR... we will begin her 5th treatment tomorrow...we are doing the same medication we tried last time, but doubling the time. I have less and less optimism with each lab test. It's discouraging that she can't get rid of this parasite she has probably had her entire life!! So, she will take this medication for a week, then we have to wait another 2 weeks after that to test her again - so we're looking at another 3 weeks before we will know anything...

Kahlia got her hearing aids today - they are actually really cute! She has HUGE holes in her eardrums caused from her chronic ear infections, and the doctors cannot surgically close them until she is older or they would burst open again with her very next ear infection. Those huge holes have a huge impact on what she can hear. Though she doesn't seem to have a problem hearing, it's the small sounds and frequencies that she doesn't hear. She has mild to moderate hearing loss that can likely be corrected after surgery. We are hoping that now that she has hearing aids, she will be able to hear and start recognizing consonant sounds, so she can start making those sounds herself! The only consonants we have ever heard her say is "m" and "n". She either vowel matches words, uses no words, or uses sign language. She is getting really good with her signing. I only wish I knew more! Makenna went to the library today with her class, and she came home with a signing book, and she read 80 pages tonight!!! She now meets with a signing lady from ESD a few times a month, as well as speech and physical therapy. She started a small group session with other 2 year olds last week which she really liked. They do fine motor skills projects, story time, gym and obstacle course time, snack time, art time, and free reading time. It was really good for Kahlia to be around kids her own age with the supervision of 2 speech therapists. My life is getting SO busy with all these appointments, waiting for life to settle down a little this summer!! :-)

Kahlia's walking is improving - ever so slowly...she can sometimes take 6-8 steps at a time before falling down. She wants to walk so bad, she just can't seem to balance herself at all. I think there is an equilibrium problem with her ears - I am truly concerned, but no one else seems to be too concerned since she is slowly improving. It's just hard being patient - I really wanted her walking by this summer so we can spend time outside with out her getting every set of clothes filthy diry from crawling everywhere instead of walking!!

That's the update - I will try to be better as we have "updates"! Thanks for your support and prayers - we are truly blessed...

Yesterday, Kahlia got fitted for her hearing aids with the audiologist at ESD. Her ear is still infected - amazing - no fever and no fussiness - how am I supposed to know when she has an ear infection if she doesn't let me know - silly girl!! While there she leaned up against me, facing out...she took 2-3 steps to a chair just beyond her reach - all by herself!! Literally her first few steps - all by herself! :-)