3 Years have FLOWN BY...

WOW two years, REALLY!?!?!?  I can't believe that much time has passed so quickly!

Here is a picture of our Sweet Makayla on our 3 year Forever Family Day.  I will tell you there is NO WAY I could write down all that we have been through in the last 2 years! However, I can tell you that Makayla is so smart, funny, happy and a blessing bigger than we ever imagined! She has had 3 surgeries now and I am pretty sure we are done for a very long time.  She has been bi-laterally implanted with cochlear implants and also now has glasses.  She is talking so great and using full sentences. It has been years of speech and determination on her part and ours but the seeds were planted and this little girl is growing by leaps and bounds! We also found out two years ago that Makayla has Ushers Syndrome Type 1.  She is already considered legally blind because she has no night vision and no peripheral vision.  Basically she is at about 30% vision and only in the day.  We have now had a TVI O&M (Teacher of the Visually Impaired Orientation & Mobility Specialist) added to our team.  Makayla is not only learning speech, getting Physical Therapy but now learning to walk with a cane and read braille.  I cried for about a week because honestly all my dreams for her were shattered.  Then, I got over myself and realized her life is going to be her story and we will hold her hand and love her every step of the way.  God put this little girl in our family for a reason and living day by day taking the challenges is the only way we are going to know HIS plan in her life.  Like I said before...she is SMART and will be AWESOME no matter the challenges that are in her life.  Here is a picture of us at her chosen dinner of Chines food...shocking I know! LOL

Makayla loves learning and going to school.  She is beyond social and always has a smile on her face.  Here is a picture of her story board about herself.

It is almost time for her 4 year FOREVER FAMILY DAY on January 25th and I will post an updated picture of her then.  For now I will say, she is surrounded by love! Here is our family.

I love this one we took on the first day of Pre-K and the last day of Pre-K.  She is now in Kindergarten and LOVES it.

She is so very Princess too.  She loves dress up, Princess anything, here favorite color is purple and she is smiling most all of the time.

Have a blessed day!
The Sweeney's

1 YEAR!!!!!!

1 YEAR

FOREVER FAMILY DAY!!

I honestly can't believe it has already been a year since we were handed this beautiful little blessing in China! We have had so much change but it has made our lives so rich! We had a fun day of celebrating. She first of all got a new pair of shoes to wear to school (that made her day right there...lol) I had made little labels for suckers and she got to passed them out to her friends at school, she chose her lunch (scrambled eggs and English muffin), we went to dinner at an Asian restaurant, came home to homemade cupcakes, and then opened two presents. One was a Kai Lan puzzle and the other was Ni Hao Kai Lan Lego's. Everytime she sees Kai Lan she points to herself and says "ME"...it is adorable!! It was a wonderful way to spend the day!



Little implant update:

Makayla is doing fantastic with her implants and speech. She can now say so many words. I will try and list them but I am sure I will forget a few:

Mom, Alex, Missi, woof, meow, moo, moon, more, please, off, on, nose, eyes, thank you, mouse, fish, home, up, hello, hi, moose, shoe, I love you, apple and apple sauce...she understands almost everything I am saying to her too. It has now been 4 months that she has been able to hear language and she has come so far. Usually a baby listens for about a year before language begins, so Makayla is doing fantastic!! Her implants were turned on September 9, 2010 but it was a good two months before she could hear the language, which is around 40-35 decibels. She is now hearing at 20 decibels in both ears and can hear me whisper. We have her in speech one time a week and I work with her daily still. She also has a deaf teacher that comes to the house and teaches us sign language. This way we are gaining sign at the same rate as her. We have learned to sign so many stories and play fun games too. Makayla's sign language is off the charts too. She is one smart cookie!



May you all have a blessed year...but take it one day at a time and live!

Progress

Here is our latest video of Makayla and how much & how fast she is learning. If you think about the short amount of time that she has actually been hearing (3 months now) and she understands so much!!! She is babbling like you heard in the video of her with Santa (below) ALL the time now, which is the exact thing she needs to be doing. This is quite a journey for all of us but the rewards are immeasurable!

Meeting Santa Clause

Santa Clause came to visit Makayla's Pre-School class today. We were so worried that it would end up being a really bad situation, especially if the children in front of her started crying. Funny thing...she was so excited for it to be her turn!!! She noticed that every child was getting a gift and she was all for it. She kept scooting closer and closer with every child's name called until it was her turn. It was the CUTEST meeting ever. She was so chatty with Santa. Since she has just started babbling, you can't understand a word she is saying but she is having a great time! I think Santa enojoyed it as much as Makayla did!

We hope you all have a Christmas filled with Peace & Joy!

The Sweeney's

WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE???

Seriously, I cannot even believe we have been home from China for 10 months! I wanted to post our Christmas card and letter to catch you all up as much as I could.

Merry Christmas-圣诞快乐-Fröhliche Weihnachten

I hope this letter finds you all well! We have had a crazy busy year with so many blessings!!! I will do a short recap of our year! WE ARE SO BLESSED…how was that? Well, it’s true but here are a few more details.

In January we flew to China for a three week trip of a life time. We spent a week in Beijing touring the beautiful city and eating the BEST food on the planet! Mike worked for 4 days at the Agilent office while the kids and I toured the cultural and historical sites with a wonderful guide. We have concluded that if given the chance, we would all go back, in a heartbeat! We traveled from Beijing to Hangzhou, China and our new daughter, Makayla, was magically placed in our arms. What an incredible blessing she is! We continued to site see for two more weeks, along with completing all the adoption paperwork along the way. We drove to Wenzhou, China where Makayla was abandoned. We toured her orphanage, met her caregivers and experienced firsthand what her life was like. Once your eyes have seen what we have seen, your heart will be changed forever! We finalized her adoption in Guangzhou, took a train to Hong Kong, flew to Japan and then flew home.

Just about the time we thought we were able to take a breath and relax into our new groove...the news came that the Agilent branch Mike had worked for in Liberty Lake was shutting its doors. That pretty much took our breath away after being quite comfortable for 13 years. He was offered a relocation package and we decided with 4 kids it was a wonderful idea! The downfall was that we had to move and it was not going to be easy. We had always been with family, so the thought of leaving was difficult, but when you are given the choice of a job or no job…well, we chose a job! As it turns out, it has been the best move we could have made for our family…and who couldn’t get used to 335 days of beautiful SUNSHINE!!!! We have been here in Fort Collins now for 4 months and spent many hours touring the area. It is really beautiful here. We have also had lots of visitors. Kassi has been here 3 times now, our niece Elaine twice, Mike’s parents and my friend Angela. Kassi and Elaine will be here for Christmas and then Paty (one of our exchange students from Mexico) will be here in January. We love all the company; it helps it feel more like home. Basically the guest room is available if you are!

Kassi is 20 now and working full time as a Certified Chiropractors Assistant, she just had her two year anniversary with the company. She is living on her own with a roommate and loving her independence. Her biggest highlight this year was her trip to Germany to see her best friend Kristina. They had a great time together, well, except for the mugging in Paris!!! That was horrible and we are thankful that she wasn’t hurt and they let her come home! She also had a major surgery and is finally feeling so much better. It is never a good idea to have a tonsillectomy at 20 unless it is an emergency, and it her case it was. Thankfully it was the best thing she did and she hasn’t been sick since! She is planning to move here in February-March when her lease is up and that would make my heart complete. It was really difficult on both of us to have to move without her. She makes me laugh so hard and her giggle is seriously contagious!

Alex is enjoying his 10th grade year so far. He is making new friends and finding out who his real ones are back home (the old home). He loves his new school and most of his teachers. He is continuing in Boy Scouts and has about a year until he is an Eagle Scout, if he works at it. He also can’t seem to live without his video games and music. He celebrated his 16th birthday this year also! I can’t believe he is already 16 and yes, that means he is driving too. He has his permit, has completed Drivers Ed and will have his license in a few more months (yes, I have used the emergency imaginary brake on the passenger side at least once). He has learned to make his own hamburgers, Alex style. If you ever come and visit he would love to make you one. He is also in his second year of German and I have to say I love it when he speaks Deutsch to us. A Mother-Son bond…there is just nothing like it. He gives the best hugs and is the nicest boy I have ever known!

Missi is in the 5th grade this year and is 10 years old. She has had a bit of a harder time adjusting to all the newness this year. She loves her new teachers and has met some great new friends. However, she has the most moments of sadness and missing what used to be her comfort zone. The move was harder on her than we thought, but she is doing much better now. We are so thankful for phone calls and emails, she is keeping in touch more now than ever with friends and family. She is keeping busy with two dance classes. She is still in traditional ballet and now has added Hip Hop. Hip Hop is her favorite, but she still loves ballet and dreams of being a ballerina. Her new teachers are young and full of energy. Missi says she sweats every day in dance class. She is also in Choir at school and will be in the school play this year as a Sugar Plum Fairy. Her style is all her own now, she is so sassy and funky and her giggle is the BEST. All in all our little Missi, she is blossoming into a beautiful young lady and she has a heart of gold…she makes my heart smile!

Makayla is now in Pre-School four days a week for 3 hours and loves the routine with her friends and teachers. She has had a very busy 10 months with her FOREVER FAMILY. She has learned to walk, run, hop, ride a tri-cycle, feed herself, potty train, dress herself, follow directions, and has undergone two major surgeries, one procedure and now has bi-lateral cochlear implants. She is hearing, speaking and signing. What a HUGE change for her given that she could not communicate at all in January. She now can say Mom, Mama, more, home, meow, move, woof, up, Alex, and almost “I love you”. She has her LING sounds mastered, which are: ahhh, ooo, mmmmm, ssss, and shhh. She can sign about 150-200 signs and she is signing lots of songs like: 3 Little Ducks, The Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Seriously the list could go on and on for this little girl. She is so smart, loves ice-cream and noodles, has a smile that will melt your heart, is so determined to learn and has such a need to please. She will go far in life; that I am sure of!

I am sure you must be so tired of reading this letter by now. I know I am tired of typing. So, I will end with this…

We are so blessed with all four of our kiddos, our health, job, friends & family…life is GREAT!
May your year be filled with much love, happiness, health and surrounded by loved ones!

Happy Holidays
The Sweeney Family
Mike, Fonnetta, Kassi, Alex, Missi, and Makayla
Duchess (dog) & Princess (cat)

Makayla's FIRST school picture! OMGosh isn't she ADORABLE!!!! She has changed so much since she was placed on our arms just 10 short months ago!

NOW

THEN

"For this child I have prayed"
1 Samuel 1:27

Blessings!

Makayla's BIG Day

I am so sorry it has taken so long to post an update on our little Makayla, but we have been so much change and been so busy!!!! We SOLD our home in Washington 9which was a total GOD Thing), moved to Colorado for my husbands job (it was a transfer with the same company), she had her bi-lateral Cochlear Implant Surgery in Denver, the kids all started school, and now she has just gotten her devises turned ON (9-9-10)!!! Within about 3 months Makalya will hear all that we hear. The speech will come but not all at once. Just like when any child is beginning to speak...it takes time. The Dr.'s now believe Makayla HAS heard before because her reaction to the "ON" moment was so calm and no tears, she wasn't scared at all. Any child that is born profoundly deaf cries at this point because it can be so scary to hear for the first time. Makayla just smiled and needed some hugs and kisses...it was so SWEET.

Thanks everyone for your prayer for her and our family...we are so BLESSED!!!

WISHES

Here is a short video clip of Makayla blowing out her candles on her birthday. She was so stinkin' cute!!!

FAITH

Happy 4th of July!!! I wanted to share this LO with you of our Makayla Faith and tell you of another little girl named "Faith". Her parents are trying to raise funds to bring her home from China and BRITT-ISH DESIGNS made a kit special for them to raise funds!!!! It is a beautiful kit and I know you will love having it, especially knowing you helped this family bring their daughter Faith home.

Go check out her blog

http://adoptionoffaith.blogspot.com/

They are doing several fundraisers and if the scrapbooking kit doesn't appeal to you, you can check out all the other things they are doing.

HERE IS THE KIT

The image is linked so PLEASE go check it out!

Have a safe and blessed holiday!
Fonnetta

familly tree

I have been so busy....it is getting harder and harder to keep up with so many things! Here is the latest LO's of our Makayla. She has grown 2 1/2 inches taller and gained 4+ pounds. She is signing so much and LOVES to hang from EVERYTHING! She is testing us on everything so I know she is comfortable...thankfully though Mommy is still winning all the battles and she is learning very fast that I make the rules around here. lol

Take care and God Bless you all!
~F

{before I forget}

I finished a few more layouts of Makayla recently and wanted to share them with you...
There really are not a lot of updates at this point. We are just enjoying life and loving every moment together as a family.
Blessings,
Fonnetta

{MORE than one 1st}

MAKAYLA said "MaMa" {May 13th, 2010}!!!!! Ok, so the first time she said MaMa is wasn't directed at ME, but the fact that she is making that sound is HUGE!!! That means the hearing aids ARE giving her more sounds and stimulating her brain. The next day we went to the Speech Therapist and I told her what happened and she said to jump on it and next time sign to Makayla that she IS saying MaMa and that is MY NAME!!! She is doing it more and more, this really worked. Now, she is saying it and signing it at the same time.....tear!!!

We are now official potty trained too. We actually meaning Makayla...I have been potty trained for quite some time now! LOL Makayla LOVES her NEW Princess panties and every time she goes potty she points to them and signs "HAPPY"! It is even going so well that she isn't wetting her diaper at night either!!! I will wait a while before I trust this one though, if you know what I mean. Washing a ton of bedding takes a lot longer than throwing out a diaper!

Here is a layout I did this week of our Sweetie getting to lick the frosting off the beaters. She LOVES frosting! {heehee}

Have a beautiful day!

Fonnetta

{Mother's Day}

Happy Mothers Day...I am so blessed!!! Not only were my 4 kiddo's home to spoil me, but my other adopted daughter from Germany called me too! I love you ALL so very much!!! Thanks for a wonderful day!

Family Pictures

We FINALLY had a chance to get ALL of us together at one time and have someone take our pictures! A HUGE thank you to my Sister-In-Law, Chris, for putting up with us ALL morning!
Have a WONDERFUL week!
The Sweeney's

Here is one of my little Sweetie!!! Isn't she just so stinkin' ADORABLE!!!

{you LOVES shoes}

I have been having so much FUN lately scrapbooking!!! I am trying to get caught up in Makayla's book, as if that could really happen when I take so many pictures daily of her! LOL But, I am trying!

Here is another that I completed this morning...

{linked for credits}

Another FIRST!!!!

I just made this layout today of Makayla. She had a BLAST playing in the sprinkler this weekend! I am so excited that we get to have so many FIRSTS with this little Punkin'! This was her FIRST swimsuit and her FIRST time playing in the sprinkler!!! Have I ever mentioned that I absolutely LOVE this little girl!!! God is good...ALL THE TIME!

OK...I cannot believe it has already been a month since my last post...really sorry here!! However, it is all good news!!!! We have finished her sedated ABR, CT scan of her brain of her cochlear, finished ALL of the blood work (A+ on it all) required and her ear molds done for hearing aids. We just met with the Cochlear Team this week and she IS a candidate for cochlear implants (meaning that her very own cochleas and nerves are beautiful) and our insurance pays for it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise God on this one, because it is around $60,000 per ear! She is profoundly deaf and we will need to have her in hearing aids for 3 months to introduce sounds and noise and then she will have her surgery around August and they should turn them on in September...just in time for school!!! We are so excited that she is a candidate that we could scream! I will someday hear my little girl say "Mommy", "I LOVE YOU", and...you get the idea!

Makayla is doing absolutely FANTASTIC and is such a blessing and joy! It makes me want more, but every time I mention that she needs a little sister, Mike about falls off his chair! LOL He really wasn't ready for any of them, but has adjusted quite well and loves them all very much! LOL He can't get over how much Makayla belongs in our family and how much he loves her already! That is a GOD thing! I will try to post more pictures of her later, but for now I posted our announcement of our little Makayla (at the top). I made the announcement the other day and just LOVE how it turned out!!! Below are a few of the LO I have done for her scrapbook (with the exception of the first LO, that was made for me by my friend Lisa). In the LO from my friend, the pictures are of our first day and night together in China and we were bonding wonderfully! The rest of the LO are made by me and are not in any particular order...thanks to blogger! arrrrgggg!

Take care and thanks for stopping by to see how she is doing!

Hugs & Blessings to you all,
Fonnetta

{UPDATE}

Ok...I know you all have been waiting to get the scoop on our Sweetheart and I think I might have a minute to post the facts:

2/10/10
1st Dr. appointment- Our family Dr. was the first one to see her and the verdict was sad. She had an upper respiratory infection, sinus infection, double chronic ear infections, thrush (yeast infection) and we got set up to do the 3 day poop sample for giardia (we already knew she was positive but tested to make sure there wasn't any more parasites) and mulluscum (virus related to small pox). Our Dr. said she was SICK!!!! Poor little Makayla...even though she was so sick, she still smiled all the time!!! She weighed 26 pounds and was 34 inches tall. She was in the 1st percentile for her weight (Asian Charts not American) and 25th percentile for her height. We put her on a 10 day amoxacillian and Nystatin for yeast, then prayed for healing! We will do all we possible can to get her well!!!

2/12/10-Poop samples done (PEEE-UUU) and FedEx'd to the lab...it takes the lab a week to grow what is in the stool and then they take time to find out what will kill them too, so you aren't experimenting on the child. We really liked that part!!! We just want those creepy, stinky little things GONE!!!

2/16/10-ENT appointment @10am. Dr. looked in her ears and said she has chronic ear infections and her adenoids are HUGE!!! There is still fluid in her ears and because her adenoids are so big the fluid in the ear and inner ear cannot drain. What would happen is the fluid would just grow bacteria again and the infection would start all over. There is no way to know if she can hear until she has surgery to remove the adenoids, put tubes in her ears to drain the fluid so the inner ear can heal. Yep, you guessed it...we scheduled surgery!
Surgery scheduled for March 1, 2010

2/17/10-Poop samples back and POSITIVE for Giardia! Yep, we knew it and YEAST! Thankfully though that was it. No other little weird things came with her.

2/19/10 Finished with the 10 day round of antibiotics...she really does take her meds well! She will be on the nystatin for 2-3 months, so that one will be a while!

2/22/10-Pre-Op appointment for surgery. Her ears have healed but the fluid is still there. At least we know, right? Her surgery will cost about $5,000! Did I tell you we have a health savings account...we pay out of pocket for the first $3,600 then the insurance pays 90%...OUCH!!!!

3/01/10-SURGERY (6:30 check in for a 7:30 surgery). We also decided to have our Dr. get as much of the blood work needed while she was under for surgery. The agency and Post Adoption want A LOT of testing done to make sure she is healthy, even if the test were done in China we had to do them over. I think she is traumatized ENOUGH, so we are having most of it done now.
At 8:45 am the Dr. came out and said the surgery went really well and she will need to be on another 10 day round of amoxacillian to help prevent infection and ear drops for 3 days to help with infection and swelling (we want those tubes to stay in).
I got to go straight back right after that and be with her while she woke up. She looked so sweet!!! The nice part of just getting the adenoids removed and tubes put in is that there are no pain fibers connected to the nerves!!! So, that means post surgery is virtually pain free. She may not even need Tylenol (and she didn't). We do have to stay away from people for 7-10 days to prevent infection from others. Since the adenoids are right behind the nostrils when she breathes it can get right to that raw tissue and she could get sick (back to the cave for the Sweeney's)Makayla woke up enough in the 1st recovery to be taken to the 2nd recovery and there it was a little more frustrating. Evidently they gave her an extra shot of Demerol in her leg!!!! For a child that has NEVER even had Tylenol and Demerol being 10X stronger...she woke up to throw up!!!! Even the pediatric nurses were upset! The little ones just don't handle that stuff!!!! In the mean time...I called for the nurse because something was coming out of her ear that looked like rotten gauze and I didn't want to mess with it until she saw it. She assumed that I said wax and assured me it was normal! I asked her to come and look at it and she did. Her face said it all...she didn't know what it was either and thought it looked like rotten gauze too. So, she called the Dr. to make sure he had not packed her ear and he said he had not. That was GUNK from her inner ear that had squeezed through the tubes because of the pressure in her ears. She had to of felt better to get that crap out of her ear!!!! The nurse removed it and nothing else has really come out since then. Anyway, after she threw up they sent us home and we RUSHED!!!! We knew she wasn't finished throwing up! It is a good thing we only live 10 minutes from the hospital! Sure enough we got home and she threw up 2 more times and passed out! I felt so bad for her, but I know from experience that she needed to throw up to get that crap out of her system. I just held her while she slept and after about 2 hours, she woke up and FELT GREAT!!!! You would not have known she had surgery that morning!!! She was eating EVERYTHING and drinking lots of fluid and we played! We read books, played puzzles, had a tea party....seriously she was GREAT! The hearing would take time. The inflammation had to go down and the fluid drain from the inner ear before we might know anything. We also are not sure how long she had chronic ear infections and how much damage it caused the ear...we wait and just enjoy our precious little gift!

3/08/10- POST-OP appointment. She is doing great! The ears are healing beautifully and we are seeing some signs of hearing. She covers her ears at times, points to her ears, and makes more vocal noises!!! We also did a hearing test while in the office with the audiologist and that came back inconclusive! SO, we are scheduled for an ABR (sedated hearing test) It will be at the children's hospital and the test is for 2 hours (she will be sleeping for this one). They are testing the nerves to make sure they work and to see the degree of loss we are working with. Then we will know what to do and what she will need as far as hearing aides or whatever!

3/09/10-Infant Toddler Assessment. Emily came today to do some assessments on Makayla to see where she is cognitively and test her small & large muscle skills. We knew Makayla was smart!!! She is between 3 & 4 years old for her cognitive abilities and her small motor skills are fantastic. Her large motor skills are almost where they should be (because of lots of work on our part! She has changed so much since the day we got her)!!! Emily will come back next week to visit again and by the third visit be able to do a family plan for us and to help Makayla get all that she needs to be the BEST little girl she can be!

I think Makayla is doing a little grieving, finally. I am so happy! I know it sounds weird to be happy, but tears make room for growth and she need to mourn the loss of her previous life so she can fully embrace her new one! There have been about 3 times in the last 3 days that her cry has been very sad (out of the blue) and the tears fall pretty hard!!! She curls up in my arms and we rock until she is OK. I cannot even begin to know her loss. Those children were her brothers and sisters and those nannies were like her mommies. She knew nothing else and even though her life is so much better know...she mourns her loss. I am grieving with her and she is letting me. Makayla needed a Forever Mommy and I am so blessed to be chosen for that. The tears only last about 3-5 minutes and then she is OK and wants to play again. I LOVE this little girl so much!!!

3/11/10 BLOOD WORK back- Well everything looks GREAT!!! She is a little anemic and has low thyroid function and vitamin D, but there would have been no way for her to retain any nutrients with giardia. We have 5 more things they need that the hospital couldn't do, so we have that request ready for her next sedation on April 5th. I still don't want her to have anymore trauma, so they can draw the blood when she is asleep.

In the mean time we have been brushing her teeth and noticed why she doesn't like hot or cold food...she has a broken molar in the back of her mouth and a few cavities. Yep, you guessed it...we have a dentist appointment on 3/16/10 and she will most likely need to have her tooth capped and some fillings!!! This little girl NEEDED a forever family!!! I cannot even imagine ALL the pain she has endured!!! This little girl is no sissy!!!

We have also kept her on her Chinese diet of congee and/or noodles because of her teeth. And now that she is finished with her second round of amoxacillian she is on probiotics to put some good stuff back in her little tummy!!!

This was a very long post and I am glad it is over!!! We are all doing great! She is still very bonded to me and also loves her Daddy and siblings!!! We don't have any problems with her wanting strangers (she won't leave our arms)...she is attached to ME!!! YAYAYAY Thank you Lord!

Since China...Makayla is:
Walking, running, lifting her arms over her head, throwing a ball overhand, feeding herself, off of bottles, signing, babbling, drinking from a cup, climbing stairs, playing pretend, learning to like grass (LOL), sleeping all night and almost fully potty trained!!!

OPPORTUNITY, that is all a child needs and I am more than happy to give her all she needs!
You are officially updated!
Hugs,
Fonnetta

COLORING...

...she still loves it!this is one of the many faces she makes when she is laughing and being silly that just makes me smile...she is so stinkin' HAPPY!!!!