First Day of School!

Well, the summer came and went SO fast I still can't believe it's over!!

The kids started school in mid-August and we are adjusted and back to learning!

Kate- 5th Grade

Chengbin- 1st Grade

Laila- Pre-k4

I am still shocked at how much has changed in Laila in less than a year!! She started out daycare in the 1 year old class and it was correct for her developmentally.  For her to walk in to a prek4 classroom only 10 months later is a miracle!!! God is doing miracles in her life and the view from the front row is magnificent!!

And ever since that first day of school I've been asked every, single day...

'Mama, can I go bus with Sissy & Chengbin??'

Soon little one- soon!!

He writes the best stories doesn't he???

Celebrating America's Birthday

Happy 4th of July!!!

We are so unbelievably lucky to live in this country and to have the freedoms we have.  I spent so much of today filled with gratitude to God for allowing me to be born in the USA.  We pray that we take full advantage of all the opportunities he has given our family as Americans to make an impact on our country and the world.  We pray that God continues to lead our family to use our talents & our many blessings to bless others.

These kids had a blast!!!

It was his second 4th of July as an American & the first one where he could really understand why we were celebrating America's Birthday!  He was so proud to be able to recite the pledge of allegiance and that he could talk about George Washington with me! So cute talking to this boy about how our country is so different from others and explaining how important the freedoms we have are.

And this little cutie had no idea what Independence Day is, but she was more than happy to get in on the birthday party festivities for America! (You know- whoever that is! ;)  I still can't get over the difference in less than a year!!  She has grown SO much!!! She loved picking out her outfit and listening to her sissy explain what would happen once it was dark on this awesome day!

And THIS is how we celebrated!!! We bought a ton of fireworks and had so much fun just setting them off with the kids.  We still have snakes, ground flowers, smoke balls, & sparklers left over for another day!! :) 

Our 4th of July was awesome! We miss being back home with our family, but we definitely made the best of it!!

Happy Independence Day America!!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Wilks Family 

Reflections at 9 Months of Forever

Lately I've been noticing something peculiar... It seems like we have actually begun to transition into a new kind of normal.

All of us have really.  Laila, in particular, seems to be really finding her groove.  She's feeling more and more secure in her life here with her new family.  Today marks 9 months of forever and there is just something different lately.  

 

She just seems to have more joy.

The days of multiple tantrums have slowed to a tantrum each day and then every couple days until they have slowly but surely gone away almost altogether.

I don't even know when it stopped.  Just realized recently, as I reflected on life and where each of my kiddos is at in their journey that we seem to be without the once daily fits.

Look, I'm not saying that she never throws fits now.  She does- but they aren't the same.  They aren't based in fear and need for security and control.  They are normal ones.  Toddler like.  And that's a great kind of normal.

We transitioned the kids into new bedroom set ups.

 

We've celebrated straight a's.

Celebrated the end of school with a road trip and trip to Disney.

Embraced the summer- complete w trips to the sprayer park and swim lessons.

And welcomed my sister and nephew to the house for the summer as she spends time w the kiddos!

And somewhere in the middle of all this things just started feeling 'normal'!!

 

Yep, our new normal has arrived at 9 months home.

 

And we are blessed to be there!!

 

Two for Transfusions please! Thal treatment for two- An Update.

Last year I posted some great in-depth blog posts about Chengbin's thal treatment:

Port Surgery:
http://crazylifeofthewilksfamily.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-next-step-port-surgery-today.html
http://crazylifeofthewilksfamily.blogspot.com/2013/10/port-placement-transfusion-update.html

Transfusion Days & General Thal Information:
http://crazylifeofthewilksfamily.blogspot.com/2013/11/all-about-thalassemia.html

Medication:
http://crazylifeofthewilksfamily.blogspot.com/2013/11/exjade-finally-arrived.html

& Trips to the Thal Center in Atlanta:
http://crazylifeofthewilksfamily.blogspot.com/2014/06/doctors-animals.html

Since then I've been SO glad to receive A LOT of inquiries about life with thalassemia, kids available for adoption, sorting out insurance coverage, reviewing files to help families considering these kids, etc.  It has been AWESOME!!!  I seriously LOVE helping families find the child meant to take their last name and find their forever family.  And I LOVE thal kids!  Seriously, there's a deep love for these kids.  They are amazing, wonderful kids who have such a bright future ahead of them with proper treatment.  And sadly, such dire circumstances and a deadly fate await them without proper treatment.  My two thal kiddos are such an incredible blessing and so many kiddos are still waiting to bless the families they will be adopted into.  So it's about time I tell ya'll what thal treatment is looking like for TWO! 

We've done transfusions for them separately a few times and now together twice.  Here's the breakdown of our latest trip to the Infusion Center on Friday and how it all works now that we have two of them.

7am- Leave the house for Nemours.  It's about an hour away, plus this Mama needs Starbucks for sure before a day in the transfusion bay with two!  Before leaving the house we put on our lidocaine cream.  Chengbin gets it on his port, while Laila gets hers on both hands since we won't know til it's time, which hand is looking better for the IV start.

7am-8am Messy lidocaine gets ALL over Laila!  She manages to move the press & seal that is covering her lidocaine, so before we know it, her doll is covered in lidocaine, her toy cup has some on it, and she's wiped some in her hair, on her forehead, and on her clothes just for good measure! ;) 

8:10am We arrive and are brought back right away to access the kids and send their bloodwork off to the lab.  Some thal families bring their kids in a few days before to get their bloodwork for transfusion day, but given our distance from the hospital, we do it all in the same day. 

 

 

Chengbin gets his port "accessed" and then it gets sealed up and covered so he can play & be a kid while we wait for the transfusion.  This usually goes very smoothly, though every so often it'll be a rough access day.  This one actually was rough, but he is such an amazingly resilient little guy who just does his best to move on and be happy, no matter the circumstances. 

Laila just received a port this week.  Before receiving the port, the nurses decide which hand is looking best, warm it up, and then attempt to place an IV into her hand.  This didn't usually go well for Chengbin before he had a port, but Laila has had so few transfusions that so far the nurses haven't had much trouble getting her IV line in.  Thank God for this!  They then put her hand on a board and tape it all up so that she can play and not worry about knocking out the line.  I have no pics of her getting her IV line because she sits on my lap eating cool ranch doritos with one hand while they try to put a line in the other hand. ;)  I will say that she is an amazingly brave girl who is very patient and doesn't even flinch- as long as she can watch them do it & eat her snack at the same time.

We visit the hematologist and then wait for blood to arrive from the blood bank.  On this particular day we decided to go grab some food before the blood arrived.

At 10:45 our blood arrived and both kiddos were started up by 11:10.

Some playtime, okay- a LOT of playtime...  (Thank the Lord for Child Life workers & hospital volunteers who help to entertain these kiddos while we wait for blood to drip!! Haha)  Multiple trips to the potty... A couple snacks later and...

 

(This is the "Mama- help me get to potty" look!! Haha!!)

3 hours later they were all fueled up and ready to go!!

This was a best case scenario day!  We were out of the infusion bay and on our way home before 2:30!!  But even on our rougher days when the hospital backs up the blood bank and we wait longer for blood we are usually out by 3:30.

Another hour long drive back to the house and we were all set for another 3 weeks! :)

So that's what transfusions for two looks like right now.  As they get older, the transfusions will get longer.  They may not always be on the same schedule.  And when those days come, we will adjust as any family would.  But I am SO GLAD to have these two sweet blessings.  I am SO GLAD God brought them to our family!!  And I hope that this information will help other families who are considering whether or not they could handle a transfusion dependent thal kiddo.

We are SO blessed!  Email me with any questions at mepscoastie@yahoo.com.

Thanks for Stopping by,
Fannie, Matt, & the Kiddos

Boys- Who will go for the boys??

Lately I've been thinking a lot about boys...

Specifically the ones who are still waiting in orphanages around the world for a family to pick them.

Maybe it's because I missed Chengbin so much while we were in China.
Maybe it's because I know SO MANY families bringing home girls, but only a fraction in comparison bringing home boys.
Or maybe it's because there are two boys with thalassemia who have been on China's waiting child list for years, virtually forgotten, even by us thal mamas who say we are advocating for all thal kids.

But boys are AWESOME.

SERIOUSLY- If you don't think a boy can rock your world and change it forever, you should meet Chengbin.

He is funny and silly and crazy and rambunctious.
He can often be found light saber battling & force pushing anyone that is silly enough to indulge him in an imaginary match up!
Yes- even at church, I often find him right in the middle of a great Jedi battle of good & evil! ;)

Everyone who meets this kiddo adores him!  He's just AWESOME!!  And he gives incredible bear hugs!!! Hehe!!

 

I mean, come on, what girl is going to choose their own pose like this?

 

 

What may truly shock those who know him is that Chengbin, just like so many boys in China waited. 

 

His adoption paperwork was prepared when he was 3 years old. 

And for over TWO YEARS he waited in an orphanage every day for a family to choose him. 

He waited for someone to look beyond his age, his medical condition, and the fact that he was a boy and choose him. 

 

What would have happened to him if we hadn't have said 'yes'??  How much longer would he have waited?  I actually shudder to think that he might still be waiting...

 

After all, the statistics don't lie.  On China's Waiting Child List nearly 75% of the children who wait are boys.  Of all the thalassemia children on the waiting child list, only boys remain.  These boys...

 

"Oscar" is from the same orphanage as Chengbin.  He's been waiting for over FOUR YEARS for someone to pick him.  To love him.  To bring him home to be their son.

 

"Everett" has been waiting 2 years too.  He's beautiful and would be a delight for any family.  But he also continues to wait.

And sweet little "Judah".  Only 3 years old, given a $4,000 grant by WACAP toward his adoption.  But after a couple months, he too is still waiting.

 

And how I can't get "Jonah" out of my head or heart either, another sweetie with basically no medical needs that is from Chengbin's orphanage too.  Wanna guess how long he's been waiting for a family?  4 LONG YEARS.  This summer he even got the opportunity to come to America to spend time with a family, in hopes that as people got to know him, they would decide to give him a forever family.  And still he waits...

 

 

 

So the question my heart is crying out...

Who will go for the boys?  Don't they matter too??  Aren't they equally deserving of a family to call their own forever?  So many of them wait.  More and more everyday actually.

This little Master Builder, Jedi Extraordinaire has been the most unexpected blessing of my life!!!!  You see, our first adoption, I thought like many others, that we would be adopting a girl.  A sister for Katelynn.  God, however, had other plans and made it very clear to me that one of the little boys who were waiting were to be ours.  I thank God every day that he knew what a blessing Chengbin would be to us!!

Yes, I know that the girls need homes too...
and Yes, I too, just brought home a sick little girl who needed a family.
So if you are in process for a girl, please don't consider this a judgment.  It isn't.

But the boys are on my heart.  The boys are waiting!! LOTS of them!! 

"And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5

CHINA BOYS ROCK!!! And so do Vietnamese boys and Korean boys and Indian boys and Ugandan boys and American boys and all the orphan boys around the world!! :)  Pray for one.  Foster One.  Sponsor One.  Adopt One.  You will never regret it!!!

Blessings,
Fannie Wilks

 



Doctors & Animals

Chengbin was scheduled for an MRI scan of his heart and liver on Monday in Atlanta, and since he had a doctor appointment with the thalassemia clinic on Tuesday, we decided to spend the rest of Monday at the Atlanta Zoo...

First the doctor & thal stuff for interested parties... ;)

He had a ferriscan of his heart and lungs under full sedation.  Transfusion dependent thalassemia patients receive a tremendous amount of iron during each transfusion.  In America, we "chelate" these patients, that is- we give them medication to take the iron out of their bodies.  In the orphanage Chengbin wasn't afforded this luxury.  Chelation medication is incredibly expensive!  So his body has accumulated a significant amount of iron over the years. 

Our liver ferriscan from October showed liver iron of 43mg/dry gram.  This is extremely high!!  He has been receiving chelation ever since then, so we are hoping to see improvement of his liver iron from this scan.  Because his iron was so high last time, it was also determined that we should check his heart to determine if any iron had deposited in it.

This little boy is incredibly silly when you get him in a hospital.  I'm telling you, he just lights up and charms the heck out of anyone he comes into contact with!!  He laughed and laughed and got so wound up that everyone in recovery commented how quiet it suddenly was when he received the anesthesia! ;)  One nurse even had to stop by ahead of the anesthesia cause she just had to see the little boy with the infectious laugh, before the anesthesia stopped it. LOL!!

It took around an hour before he was wheeled back into the room to sleep off the lasting effects of the anesthesia.  Around 30 minutes later he began to stir and about 15 minutes later we were cleared to leave.

Easy Peasy!!!  Thank goodness he does well with anesthesia.  This was our 4th time since he came home of him going under for a procedure, so I don't get nearly as nervous as I did those first couple times.

After our hospital visit we grabbed Katelynn & Grandpa from the hotel and headed to the zoo.

Ever since Chengbin began to speak English he has talked about how much he loves pandas and wants to see them...  Well, we DID see them.  In CHINA.  But by the time we got to them... let's just say our little guy was out of sorts.  I don't think he even looked at them.  So this was his chance to finally see his beloved pandas!

The zoo was shady and pretty compact.  Perfect for us, since we had only gotten 5 hours sleep the night before.  We came, we saw, we fed giraffes, and we went back to the hotel for a nice long nap before dinner. :)

Doctors & Animals in Atlanta!  Can't wait to go again in 6 mos with all 3 of my kiddos!!

Thanks for stopping by,
Fannie, Matt, Kate, & Chengbin