Wow! Mahli has been home for two years this month. We celebrated Gotcha day earlier this month and today was the day that Mahli to her oath. It does not seem like that was two years ago. How time flies.
Mahli is doing well. She is in pre-school two days per week and is loving it. She has wonderful teachers and they work with her very well. They have her whole class working with her. She still tends to be very bossy and loud, and the class will remind her to use her inside voice. It is very cute to see. She looks forward to her days at school. Her therapies are going well, she tested out of physical therapy. So now she is just doing O/T, speech, and attachment therapy. One day a week she does hippotherapy and she loves that. Amazingly, she is very good on the horse. She is not very good with our dogs, she like to hit them, so it always surprises me that she is very gentle with the horses.
Mahli is growing like a weed. She is still only 32 pounds but she is very tall. It is hard to find clothes for her long legs. She is wearing a size 5, which is much too big in the waist but fits perfect in length.
I have met several people in the community with adopted children and all have interesting stories. It is amazing to me that college campuses seem to bring adoptive people together. I have been quite busy and not keeping up with people the way I should :-( Maybe once graduate school is done.....
Anyone who wants to keep in touch, feel free to friend me on facebook Heather Shull Franks, just attach a note to the request letting me know who you are.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Mahli and my niece
Well Mahli has really settled in well. She has been receiving many therapies including physical, occupational, speech, developmental, and behavioral. She is progressing at great speed. She has adapted well to her therapists and loves her occupational therapy. She loves all her therapies. We went to Little Rock last week to have a swallow study and upper GI. The upper GI came out fine, but the swallow study showed that she had deep penetration with both normal liquid and nectar thick liquid. What that means is that she has most likely been aspirating liquids. We now have to thicken all of her drinks to honey consistency. She will have another swallow study in 9 months.
I have also moved into the world of facebook. If you would like to see my facebook pictures, send me a friend request. Heather Shull Franks. Make sure you send me a note and say you follow my blog.
I have also moved into the world of facebook. If you would like to see my facebook pictures, send me a friend request. Heather Shull Franks. Make sure you send me a note and say you follow my blog.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Update
It is Mahli's Birthday!! She is four years old today! She has been a busy little girl. We have had a busy summer and have now gotten her big brothers back in school.
Rob has moved off to college for a year, he will be back in May. He is going to do a year at the community college where his Dad lives and then he will transfer back here to finish up at our University here. We are so proud of him!
Dayton started 7th grade this year and is doing well. He is taking band again this year and really enjoying it. Jaxxon is in 3rd grade and although he grumbles about it, he really likes school. Indy is in second grade and loves his teacher this year, Amen!
Mahli has started speech therapy twice a week, physical therapy twice a week, and occupational therapy three times a week, but her therapist would like her to come four times a week. We went last Friday for psychological and further developmental testing and go back to see Dr. Bellando on the 17th. They are recommending developmental and behavioral therapy as well. I am not sure when we are supposed to fit all these therapies in.
Mahli does not particularly like any of the therapy and does not cooperate well. She is very impulsive and does not like to do anything that is not her idea. So she does not have an easy time with therapy.
On a brighter note, she did enjoy her birthday party. We had it yesterday while her big brother was home from college. We got her several toys that will help with her Sensory Integration issues. She loves her tricycle, hippity hop, and her sit-n-spin. She did not so much like her birthday cake. She did like the tinkerbell rings that we on top of the cake.
I will try to get some good pictures of her later today. She does not like to have her picture taken, so this is not an easy task. You will be amazed by how much she has grown!
Rob has moved off to college for a year, he will be back in May. He is going to do a year at the community college where his Dad lives and then he will transfer back here to finish up at our University here. We are so proud of him!
Dayton started 7th grade this year and is doing well. He is taking band again this year and really enjoying it. Jaxxon is in 3rd grade and although he grumbles about it, he really likes school. Indy is in second grade and loves his teacher this year, Amen!
Mahli has started speech therapy twice a week, physical therapy twice a week, and occupational therapy three times a week, but her therapist would like her to come four times a week. We went last Friday for psychological and further developmental testing and go back to see Dr. Bellando on the 17th. They are recommending developmental and behavioral therapy as well. I am not sure when we are supposed to fit all these therapies in.
Mahli does not particularly like any of the therapy and does not cooperate well. She is very impulsive and does not like to do anything that is not her idea. So she does not have an easy time with therapy.
On a brighter note, she did enjoy her birthday party. We had it yesterday while her big brother was home from college. We got her several toys that will help with her Sensory Integration issues. She loves her tricycle, hippity hop, and her sit-n-spin. She did not so much like her birthday cake. She did like the tinkerbell rings that we on top of the cake.
I will try to get some good pictures of her later today. She does not like to have her picture taken, so this is not an easy task. You will be amazed by how much she has grown!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Quarterly Update
Ok. So Maybe I will make this a quarterly update. I don't seem to be able to get around to updating any more often....
Well..school is almost out. Rob graduates next Tuesday. He is moving out the week after that to start college life. I am not ready for that! He is going to move off for the first year and then will return back here to finish up his degree.
I am hoping to put the boys on the swim team this summer, they are excited about that. Me not so much. Practice is from 7AM to 9AM everyday. Yes that is 7AM..... For those that know me well, you know I am NOT a morning person! The activity will be good for the boys.
Mahli is doing well. She is picking up more English everyday. She has adjusted very well, you would never know that she has only been here for 7 months. She is almost completely potty trained! Yay for Mahli!! She loves to jump on the bed, but is absolutely terrified of the trampoline! hmmmm... She has such a cute little personality and shows it to everyone. She has almost quit melting down every time we go out in public. She is still quite OCD about having ANYTHING on her that does not belong, it must come off immediately!
She gets along great with the boys and you can hear her yelling for them or the dogs at any given moment. We have recently had a new addition to the house. Rosie is a 120 lbs, 20 month old Mastiff. Mahli loves Rosie just as long as Rosie does not slobber on her! When Rosie gets a drink, Mahli heads for higher ground!
I will post some pictures later this weekend. We are hoping to meet some friends at the zoo in the next couple weeks and maybe will have some pictures from there soon!
Well..school is almost out. Rob graduates next Tuesday. He is moving out the week after that to start college life. I am not ready for that! He is going to move off for the first year and then will return back here to finish up his degree.
I am hoping to put the boys on the swim team this summer, they are excited about that. Me not so much. Practice is from 7AM to 9AM everyday. Yes that is 7AM..... For those that know me well, you know I am NOT a morning person! The activity will be good for the boys.
Mahli is doing well. She is picking up more English everyday. She has adjusted very well, you would never know that she has only been here for 7 months. She is almost completely potty trained! Yay for Mahli!! She loves to jump on the bed, but is absolutely terrified of the trampoline! hmmmm... She has such a cute little personality and shows it to everyone. She has almost quit melting down every time we go out in public. She is still quite OCD about having ANYTHING on her that does not belong, it must come off immediately!
She gets along great with the boys and you can hear her yelling for them or the dogs at any given moment. We have recently had a new addition to the house. Rosie is a 120 lbs, 20 month old Mastiff. Mahli loves Rosie just as long as Rosie does not slobber on her! When Rosie gets a drink, Mahli heads for higher ground!
I will post some pictures later this weekend. We are hoping to meet some friends at the zoo in the next couple weeks and maybe will have some pictures from there soon!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Bad Mama
I know, I know.....I have been very bad. I have not posted in a loooong time. We have been so busy and trying to get everyone settled in. Then came the holidays and then my return to work. Anyway, excuses aside, we are all doing well.
Mahli had some regression when I returned to work, but she is doing better now. We have gotten results from most of her testing. Her blood work was all good, except for a low platelet count. That is being followed up on. We have repeated all her vaccinations. We have her MRI results and are now working on a plan for follow up of that.
She has an EEG scheduled later this month and I am waiting to hear from the Dennis Development Center at UAMS/Arkansas Children's Hospital about her referral to them. She will need developmental testing from them.
I am looking for a part time developmental daycare in Little Rock where she can attend maybe two days a week. I really have mixed feelings about putting her in daycare. I really think she may feel like she is back in an orphanage setting. She does not react well to pictures from her orphanage or of the Aunties. However, our international adoption doctor is really pushing for the daycare setting. She feels she needs the socialization. Her condition affects her ability to control her impulses and I think this may be very hard for her. I do think it would be better for her to receive all her therapy in once place though. She will need OT, speech/language, and behavioral therapies.
She has gained weight and gotten taller since we have been home. She is now 30 lbs and 36 inches tall. She is still in 24m clothes though. I am having a hard time with pants as she has long legs. She is so skinny the waist just falls off if the legs are long enough. Guess she will wear lots of dresses! She does not mind as long as I don't try to put anything in her hair to match! She loves her beads, but other than that is NOT a girly girl.
She has settled in pretty well. She still has issues with me giving anyone but her attention. It does not matter that she did not want my attention until one of the boys has it! She does get along well with her brothers though. She is still not playing well with toys, she is just not really interested. She has learned to ride her brothers scooter, that is pretty funny. Of course, she only wants to ride it when he is on it!
She is not really speaking very well yet. She will repeat what you say, but does not say a lot on her own. If you tell her to say something, she will repeat it. Hopefully, this will improve with therapy.
We finally got what I think is the right diagnosis for the rash she has had since we received her. Pityriasis rosea, is what Dr. Baldwin says she has. She has been misdiagnosed with allergies and ringworm, which it does look a lot like ringworm. She has the rash all over her back and a little on her arms and legs. She now has some oral meds for itching and we are keeping her well covered with lotion and we are using Selsan Blue as a body wash. This seems to be helping a little. I know she had the rash in the orphanage as she has the scars to prove it.
We gave up on the potty training and we just put her on the potty when she gets up in the morning and after her nap. We also put her on before her bath. She has some major sensory integration issues, expected with her condition, and does not seem to know when she pees. She is excited when she gets off the potty and can see the pee, but does not know until then that she has gone.
We are still working with the rocking. She still does this a lot and we are trying to distract her when we see her doing it. There are some OT techniques to help with this as well.
Luckily one area we do not have any trouble with is sleeping. When we put her to bed at night, she climbs up in her little bed and wants all four of her blankets on her. We tuck her in, and she is usually good for the night. I am not sure why she wants all the blankets as she kicks them all off during the night, but I am happy to put them on her anyway. She has only had one night that she woke up crying. That was right after we came home. I did have to take her night light out of her room. If I turn it on, she will DESTROY her room. I also close her door. If she does happen to wake up at night, she will wander the house.....very quietly. So I close her door for her safety.
She is learning to like many foods. She hated french fries while we were in China. Now she loves them. She still does not care much for cold food, but will eat very hot food with no response if I do not stop her. She loves spaghetti, and basically any type of pasta. She does not like chicken. She would snack all day if I let her. She is always pointing to something and wanting to eat it. She does not horde her food in her mouth anymore.
Well I think I have written a book. Hopefully, I will get back to posting regular and they will not be so long.....
Mahli had some regression when I returned to work, but she is doing better now. We have gotten results from most of her testing. Her blood work was all good, except for a low platelet count. That is being followed up on. We have repeated all her vaccinations. We have her MRI results and are now working on a plan for follow up of that.
She has an EEG scheduled later this month and I am waiting to hear from the Dennis Development Center at UAMS/Arkansas Children's Hospital about her referral to them. She will need developmental testing from them.
I am looking for a part time developmental daycare in Little Rock where she can attend maybe two days a week. I really have mixed feelings about putting her in daycare. I really think she may feel like she is back in an orphanage setting. She does not react well to pictures from her orphanage or of the Aunties. However, our international adoption doctor is really pushing for the daycare setting. She feels she needs the socialization. Her condition affects her ability to control her impulses and I think this may be very hard for her. I do think it would be better for her to receive all her therapy in once place though. She will need OT, speech/language, and behavioral therapies.
She has gained weight and gotten taller since we have been home. She is now 30 lbs and 36 inches tall. She is still in 24m clothes though. I am having a hard time with pants as she has long legs. She is so skinny the waist just falls off if the legs are long enough. Guess she will wear lots of dresses! She does not mind as long as I don't try to put anything in her hair to match! She loves her beads, but other than that is NOT a girly girl.
She has settled in pretty well. She still has issues with me giving anyone but her attention. It does not matter that she did not want my attention until one of the boys has it! She does get along well with her brothers though. She is still not playing well with toys, she is just not really interested. She has learned to ride her brothers scooter, that is pretty funny. Of course, she only wants to ride it when he is on it!
She is not really speaking very well yet. She will repeat what you say, but does not say a lot on her own. If you tell her to say something, she will repeat it. Hopefully, this will improve with therapy.
We finally got what I think is the right diagnosis for the rash she has had since we received her. Pityriasis rosea, is what Dr. Baldwin says she has. She has been misdiagnosed with allergies and ringworm, which it does look a lot like ringworm. She has the rash all over her back and a little on her arms and legs. She now has some oral meds for itching and we are keeping her well covered with lotion and we are using Selsan Blue as a body wash. This seems to be helping a little. I know she had the rash in the orphanage as she has the scars to prove it.
We gave up on the potty training and we just put her on the potty when she gets up in the morning and after her nap. We also put her on before her bath. She has some major sensory integration issues, expected with her condition, and does not seem to know when she pees. She is excited when she gets off the potty and can see the pee, but does not know until then that she has gone.
We are still working with the rocking. She still does this a lot and we are trying to distract her when we see her doing it. There are some OT techniques to help with this as well.
Luckily one area we do not have any trouble with is sleeping. When we put her to bed at night, she climbs up in her little bed and wants all four of her blankets on her. We tuck her in, and she is usually good for the night. I am not sure why she wants all the blankets as she kicks them all off during the night, but I am happy to put them on her anyway. She has only had one night that she woke up crying. That was right after we came home. I did have to take her night light out of her room. If I turn it on, she will DESTROY her room. I also close her door. If she does happen to wake up at night, she will wander the house.....very quietly. So I close her door for her safety.
She is learning to like many foods. She hated french fries while we were in China. Now she loves them. She still does not care much for cold food, but will eat very hot food with no response if I do not stop her. She loves spaghetti, and basically any type of pasta. She does not like chicken. She would snack all day if I let her. She is always pointing to something and wanting to eat it. She does not horde her food in her mouth anymore.
Well I think I have written a book. Hopefully, I will get back to posting regular and they will not be so long.....
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Time Goes By......
Time goes by way to fast. Seems like we just got home, and we were home a month on Tuesday. Mahli is quickly picking up English words. She can count, mostly from me saying one.....two....three..... She still speaks a lot of Mandarin, but has picked up many English words such as:
Hi
Bye
Cya Later
Night Night
Please.....sounds more like peaaa
Thank You
Yes
No
Jaxxon
Daddy
Drink
Yum Yum.....This when she wants to eat
Diaper
Puppy
Pretty
and she can name most of her body parts.
I do believe that she is left handed as this is the hand she "chooses" to use. We tried to begin potty training and she just was not getting it. Although, she will tell you after she has gone pee. So we have stopped that for the time being...see below for the explanation.
I took her Monday to see a pediatrician in Little Rock who has experience with international adoption. Dr. Baldwin was very nice and spent about two hours with us. She completely checked Mahli out and we spent about 45 minutes trying to get enough blood to run all the tests she wanted to do. She also started her over on her vaccinations. She got two on Monday and will receive more later. Dr. Baldwin felt that she was not ready to be potty trained and recommended that we hold off for another 3 to 6 months. She felt she might regress with all the changes. She scheduled Mahli for an MRI just to see what it shows. She did not feel that anything was wrong, but wanted to see what her diagnosis was all about. Mahli is in the 25th percentile in both height and weight. She is 27 lbs, up 5 pounds from her exam in China!, and 34 inches.
Mahli is still exhibiting some behavior issues, but these seem to be less frequently. She still has a fit when you tell her no, and is still pushing boundaries to see how far she can get, but that is typical for her age. She still hates to have anything on her head or in her hair. She will not wear socks if she does not have her shoes on, and refuses to sleep with covers.
The boys are still loving their little sister. They have all had me bring her to school for different functions. She is still dragging them all over the house. I believe she thinks she is the boss!!
Hi
Bye
Cya Later
Night Night
Please.....sounds more like peaaa
Thank You
Yes
No
Jaxxon
Daddy
Drink
Yum Yum.....This when she wants to eat
Diaper
Puppy
Pretty
and she can name most of her body parts.
I do believe that she is left handed as this is the hand she "chooses" to use. We tried to begin potty training and she just was not getting it. Although, she will tell you after she has gone pee. So we have stopped that for the time being...see below for the explanation.
I took her Monday to see a pediatrician in Little Rock who has experience with international adoption. Dr. Baldwin was very nice and spent about two hours with us. She completely checked Mahli out and we spent about 45 minutes trying to get enough blood to run all the tests she wanted to do. She also started her over on her vaccinations. She got two on Monday and will receive more later. Dr. Baldwin felt that she was not ready to be potty trained and recommended that we hold off for another 3 to 6 months. She felt she might regress with all the changes. She scheduled Mahli for an MRI just to see what it shows. She did not feel that anything was wrong, but wanted to see what her diagnosis was all about. Mahli is in the 25th percentile in both height and weight. She is 27 lbs, up 5 pounds from her exam in China!, and 34 inches.
Mahli is still exhibiting some behavior issues, but these seem to be less frequently. She still has a fit when you tell her no, and is still pushing boundaries to see how far she can get, but that is typical for her age. She still hates to have anything on her head or in her hair. She will not wear socks if she does not have her shoes on, and refuses to sleep with covers.
The boys are still loving their little sister. They have all had me bring her to school for different functions. She is still dragging them all over the house. I believe she thinks she is the boss!!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Settling In
Well the title says it all. We are just settling in. Mahli is doing great and acclimating well. The boys are doing wonderful. She drags them around wherever she wants them to go. We all had fun trick or treating. I have pictures that I promise I will upload today. Pictures of homecoming, Halloween, etc. It is hard to get pictures of my boys in anything but their underwear. As soon as they walk through the door the clothes come off.
Steven went back to work part time this week. Mahli was not too sure about that. She keeps looking for him and goes to his chair, then she yells Daadeeee. I tell her he is at work and will be home soon and she is good for awhile, then we start all over.
I want to ask everyone to please pray for Mahli's friend Susannah's family. Susannah's Papa fell from a ladder and is in the hospital. Also, for Liesl and Steve, they are leaving today to go to Kunming to get their little girl. We were supposed to travel together, but things did not work out. They have had a very stressful six weeks and are going to be gone for 18 days. I thought our trip was long.........
I took Mahli up to the boys school for their fall parties. One of our favorite teachers, the one Indy should have had this year, but our principal decided she would "change things up", asked me to get her more information on adoption!! She wants to adopt a little girl. It makes you feel good to know that you have helped another child find a forever family. It is also good that you can help someone else just starting out and tell them how you would do it, if you had it to do over again. There are definitely things I would do differently.
CHI got referrals yesterday for February 17, 2006. Not sure yet what the cut off date is, but CHI's next log in date is 3/2/06. I just can not imagine what those families are going through. These referral families waited 33 months. Which may not seem that long to some of you who are not in the adoption world, but they were told the wait would be 12 to 14 months. Quite a difference!
Ok I am going to upload pictures now. Hopefully, they will be on here before long.
Steven went back to work part time this week. Mahli was not too sure about that. She keeps looking for him and goes to his chair, then she yells Daadeeee. I tell her he is at work and will be home soon and she is good for awhile, then we start all over.
I want to ask everyone to please pray for Mahli's friend Susannah's family. Susannah's Papa fell from a ladder and is in the hospital. Also, for Liesl and Steve, they are leaving today to go to Kunming to get their little girl. We were supposed to travel together, but things did not work out. They have had a very stressful six weeks and are going to be gone for 18 days. I thought our trip was long.........
I took Mahli up to the boys school for their fall parties. One of our favorite teachers, the one Indy should have had this year, but our principal decided she would "change things up", asked me to get her more information on adoption!! She wants to adopt a little girl. It makes you feel good to know that you have helped another child find a forever family. It is also good that you can help someone else just starting out and tell them how you would do it, if you had it to do over again. There are definitely things I would do differently.
CHI got referrals yesterday for February 17, 2006. Not sure yet what the cut off date is, but CHI's next log in date is 3/2/06. I just can not imagine what those families are going through. These referral families waited 33 months. Which may not seem that long to some of you who are not in the adoption world, but they were told the wait would be 12 to 14 months. Quite a difference!
Ok I am going to upload pictures now. Hopefully, they will be on here before long.
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