C.'s Surgery Day... Postponed

This morning, C. was supposed to have his heart surgery. Papers were signed and all was ready to go, and then they brought him breakfast at 8am and insisted that he eat it... and we knew something was up. We were told that surgery was suspended for now and that his doctor would come talk to us about it. Well, his doctor never did come, but the nurses told us it was suspended due to no available bed for him in the ICU after his surgery. Before surgery can take place, there must be a bed in the ICU for the patient or they will not complete the operation. After surgery, C. should spend at least 3-5 days in the ICU so it's definitely a problem if there isn't a bed for him!

We were so disappointed to hear that it was suspended but are hopeful it can take place as planned on Monday morning. Of course we could have the same problem of no ICU beds, but we're hoping and praying for the best! C. was in a good mood all morning, and he's really loving all this extra attention! He's such a great little patient!

Last night, to help prepare C. for his surgery, Sarah did "surgery" on C.'s bear. Ben the Bear had a hole in his heart too, so C. helped patch it up with a bandaid and sewed him back up just like the doctors will do to him! Now C. and Ben will have matching scars.

 Thumbs up to show us he was ready for surgery!

 The nurses insisted C. had to eat breakfast, and Sarah and I insisted that we had to have it confirmed why he couldn't have surgery before letting him eat. 

C. gave me all sorts of stickers today. After leaving the hospital, I found stickers on my jacket and jeans that I didn't even know I had been given!

 He thought putting stickers on his feet was hilarious!

 He begged to play the iPad all morning so it was his treat after eating all of his lunch.

As we all thought he would have surgery this morning, he was woken up quite a bit for his vitals to be taken last night. He was pretty tired this morning and preferred to just lay around and watch tv... An activity he doesn't get to do much at home!

Adios, S. and A.!

Today was a VERY exciting day for us at Casa de Amor... After many months, the Boohers had their court hearing which gave them permission to take S. and A. home with them!!! Every adoption is exciting, but having watched this entire process and having received so many updates along the way, it was even more so when we heard they were given their court hearing.

The Boohers couldn't wait to have their new children/siblings home and S. and A. couldn't wait either! S. has really struggled during their visits as he just wants to go home with them when they leave, and everyone was ready to really get to know baby brother P., S. and A.'s biological brother who they adopted from a different orphanage. It seems like it's been such a long process, and we couldn't be more thrilled that it is nearly complete!

They had their court hearing this afternoon, and after, we all met up for dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant to celebrate! I only had my phone with me which is why the pictures aren't all that great... Wish I would've brought my good camera!

Congratulations again, Boohers! 

C.'s 1st Day in the Hospital

Today was the day we've all been waiting for... C. was admitted to the hospital! I know, it shouldn't be such an exciting event, but we're ready to see him get this surgery behind him and live a long, healthy life. Of course we're nervous, but we're all praying and expecting the best, and C. has proven to be a little trooper already.

He was supposed to be at the hospital at 8am this morning which is why Sarah and I brought him over to our house last night (we live much closer to the hospital than he does), but blockades all throughout the city this morning made that a bit difficult. We walked from our apartment to the hospital and managed to only arrive about 10 minutes late. The nurses and doctors we've met so far have all been really friendly, and C. has had a positive experience so far. 

Sarah packed up a bag of toys for him to take as we knew he would get bored just laying in bed all day and the blocks entertained him for HOURS this morning. He carried a plastic cow and sheep with him to get blood drawn and didn't bat an eye as the needle went in as he was too busy playing with his toys.  He sat very still through the x-rays and echocardiogram as well. He has been the model patient so far! Assuming all lab results come out normal, the plan remains to have surgery Friday morning. I don't have any hospital shifts tomorrow but will be there during his surgery so will update again then. Thank you for the prayers!!

Can you help? Update

Several weeks ago, I wrote a post titled "Can you help?" (click here to read). I was in the States at that time and had been asked many times how people could help Casa de Amor (CDA). We had three big financial needs at the time: physical therapy, a cleft lip and palate surgery, and a heart surgery. We've had a lot happen in the few weeks since I wrote that post so I thought I'd give you an update!

If you feel led to help us out, you can make a donation through Paypal (link here) or you can mail a tax-deductible donation to GOAL (Global Orphan Assistance League), PO Box 357, Collierville, TN 38027. 

Now for the update...

*Names have been changed to protect their privacy

Brayan has had a very exciting month! He received physical therapy at CDA with his own physical therapist for just about a month before he was assigned an adoptive family! He left CDA on July 23 with the most amazing family! In the month he received physical therapy, he gained a lot of core strength and learned how to sit up on his own. He is also rolling over both ways and tries to pull himself along on the floor. He is much happier and it is obvious that he is more comfortable now that he can move around more on his own. When seeing how much progress he was making with his physical therapist, his parents decided to hire her for therapy for Brayan in their own home. We couldn't be happier for them!

Isaac was scheduled for surgery to close the right side of his cleft lip on July 24. Unfortunately, the day before his surgery, he woke up with a fever and cough which turned into a full-blown cold. His doctors were unable to do the surgery, and it will not be until October that there is an opening for another appointment for him. The good news is that the $360 necessary to do the surgery was raised! The money has been set aside for him, and now we are just waiting until a new surgery date is given to Isaac.

Our final financial need was for heart surgery for four-year old Carlos. He will be admitted to the hospital early tomorrow morning with the hope that surgery will take place on Friday morning (different tests must be run in the days leading up to surgery). CDA has raised part of the money necessary but still needs a bit more. 

Carlos knows that he is having surgery, but is still too young to fully understand what is about to happen. We are trying to prepare him and the other boys as best we can. He will be staying with Sarah and I tonight as I will be taking him to the hospital tomorrow morning. While in the hospital, we will all take shifts to be with him so he won't ever be alone. We don't know how long he will be in the hospital but are estimating it to be about a week assuming there are no complications. After that, Sarah and I are hoping to bring him home with us so he can continue his recovery for another week or so. Please pray with us that there are no complications and that he has a quick and painless recovery!

Just some cute pictures!

R. has been so smiley lately!

More on this in a future post, but I.'s cleft lip surgery was postponed...

This past Thursday was Friendship Day... I didn't know it until that day but it was fun spending the morning with some of my favorite Bolivian friends!

Such a pretty smile!

She (and all of the other girls) LOVE helping with the babies when we bring them over!

 Love spending time with two of my favorite big girls!

Horita Feliz

Several people asked me if they were sisters, but the answer is no... They just looked too cute in their coordinating outfits at church this morning!

Group picture before church this morning... Needless to say, we had our hands full!

Big girls with their new pencil pouches

Up to no good? Probably so!

 Princess G.

Always screaming!

Lunch time for the babies!

Clearly he took his fashion tips from Baby A.!

Tía Lindsey visits!

This week we've had such a great time because Tía Lindsey came back to visit! Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures as Sarah and I were in the middle of moving and all that comes with that, but we truly couldn't have done it without her! We tried to convince her to move in with us but it didn't work... I guess there's always next time!

I know Carla Booher got some pictures of all of us, so I'll have to get those from her... Here are a few pictures I took during our various activities with Lindsey!

We started off the week by taking Lindsey apartment hunting with us. This was one of the first places we saw, and not the one we actually ended up renting... The real one will be featured in a future blog post once we're fully moved in!

She brought us TONS of new cloth diapers!!! We still have quite a bit left from our big Christmas donation of 15,000 disposable diapers but these will come in handy once that donation has run out.

 She got a "how to flush the toilet" lesson from Sarah on her first night with us!

 She hasn't changed a bit!

We couldn't have survived without Lindsey while in La Cancha! We went nearly every day to buy stuff for the apartment and couldn't have bought nearly as much if she hadn't come to help us. Lindsey LOVES La Cancha and loves carrying things in aguayos nearly as much, so she crammed as much as she could in her aguayos to help us out. THANK YOU!!!!!!

This is my current American chocolate stash (probably the best it's ever been since I've been in Bolivia!), and that's thanks in part to Lindsey! She brought SO much stuff here for all of us and we can't thank her enough!!

Come back soon Tía Lindsey! We miss you already!!!

Adios, Benjo!

This afternoon, baby Benjo got to leave with his forever family! I blogged about him a few posts back as he was needing physical therapy (and will write an update to that post very soon!), but the week I posted about that financial need, we found out he was assigned parents. We were SO excited for him and even more excited to find out who his parents were as we met them almost two years ago when they adopted their daughter Samira (now Gaby) from Casa de Amor! We knew they'd put in paperwork to adopt a little brother for Gaby and of course hoped it would be one of our kids so it was especially exciting to find out that it was. Not to mention he has some developmental delays and we know he'll make wonderful progress with them! 

They began their official visits with him while I was in the States so I don't have pictures from that day, but the pictures below were all taken this past week. The middle three pictures were taken on Thursday, and the last picture was taken at his new house on Friday. His parents invited us over for lunch and it was amazing to see how happy he already is with them! We can't wait to watch him grow!

Feliz Cumpleaños, R.!

Today is R.'s 4th birthday! We decided to celebrate after lunch, but we didn't know until this morning that there were blockades in the city which made getting to House 2 a bit difficult. We had to walk a few kilometers from where the blockades were to where the house is (no transportation can pass through), but we did make it. It was a a pretty warm day and we made it to the house just in time as the frosting had started to melt!

As we expected, R. had no idea it was her birthday. Gina and Michelle, two volunteers at House 2, had taken all of the younger kids to the park so R. wasn't even home when we finally arrived! When they arrived home from the park, we quickly moved all of them to the table to begin the celebration, and R. wanted absolutely NO part of it. She began rubbing her eyes, immediately burst into tears, and nearly a minute later was sound asleep on the floor. She wasn't even awake to eat cake!

 I can't figure out how to get this turned the right way!