Prayers Needed

It seems like just when things start looking up, something happens that throws us off. On Tuesday night, Annie (Samantha's occupational therapist) came over. She discussed with us the fact that when a child's head stops growing, it typically results in low life expectancy. With microcephaly, the head size is smaller, but it still continues to grow. Samantha's head hasn't grown in about 12 months now. This has always been a cause of concern for us, but we were just happy that she was progressing. We had been told that this was the most important thing. However, as much as she has surprised the doctors and specialists with her development, this doesn't necessarily overshadow the fact that her head isn't growing. Over 33 years of experience, Annie said she has never had a microcephalic child with such a small head, but she has also never had one that developed and learned so quickly. She said, "Hands down, Samantha is further in her development." That is comforting to a degree. I talked to our pediatrician who said, "I don't think we're talking days, weeks, even months...but I don't think you have years." Annie told us of a family who had 4 children with microcephaly. 3 of those died. The youngest was 6. It's painful to think of our family without Samantha. She has made a permanent mark on our hearts forever. But, until we know more, we don't want to think about her dying.

In the meantime, we ask our family and friends to continue praying for her. It's important that we control the seizures. Because her brain is so small, it is quite possible that these are harming her. It's important that her brain grow. We are praying that those 2 things will happen, but that we also will be led to the right doctors, medicine, or whatever else may help her. For those of you able and willing, we will be having a fast for her the first Sunday of November, praying for those things, as well as strength, increased faith that God has a specific plan for her, and that we can align our will with His, 100%.

Samantha has changed our lives in so many ways. She truly brings so much happiness, light, and love into our little home.

Adoption Pictures

Recent Cute Pictures of Sammy

DAFO

One problem that Samantha faces because of her condition is tense muscles. She is always holding her muscles really tight. We have been working with her physical and occupational therapist on this since she was born, and she has come a long way. But she still tends to stand on her toes. To fix that, Samantha was fitted for a pair of orthopedic braces, called DAFOs, which she wears about 2 hours a day (at least for now). Already I have seen improvement in her stability while she stands. These force her feet flat down. Now, here's the trick -- she needs to wear them with shoes. In order to find a pair of shoes that fit over the DAFOs, we had to get her a size 6.5 shoe! We think she looks sooo darling when she's doing her excersizes in these. What a doll. The first picture is of her in her gear. In the second, she pulled herself up to standing and was actually standing flat foot -- both feet flat foot! -- while "playing the piano." Yippee!

Sleeping Better and Eating Healthy

Though it feels much longer, we've only been back from our tavels for 3 weeks. Since we've been back in Utah, Samantha has been sleeping horribly - until a few nights ago. She was waking up at least 4 times a night, and that's just not healthy for anyone. But, the past few nights, when she wakes up, we let her cry it out and it seems to be doing the trick. She cries for a little bit and falls back to sleep. What a relief for all of us. AND, her naps during the day are getting better too. I think she may be down to one nap a day, but they are typically 2-3 hours long. That, too, is an amazing relief. I hated struggling with her to get her to sleep. Now, it seems like it's working out. We are a much happier Green family.



Also, when Marcus and I got home, we decided we would follow the famous Dr. Oz's suggestions on eating. He says to eliminate saturated fats, trans fats, "enriched" flours, and refined sugars. We went through our refridgerator and cabinets and sadly gave away our yummy bad-for-you-food to our neighbors who accepted it all with open arms! Honestly, I thought this was going to be a lot harder than it is. We cheat occassionaly. If we are at a friend's home and they cook something that we "can't" eat, we do. We can't be rude afterall. So, we've had a few cookies here and there. We eat a lot more fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. We had tried eating healthy before, but this time it seems to be really sticking. I believe our commitment is stronger this time. I mean, we threw out our good food! That's dedication. I'm not sure it I've lost weight, but I feel like my clothes are fitting a little differently, and I just feel good knowing that I'm doing good things for my body. We've tried a few of Dr. Oz's recipes that he offers in his book, and so far so good. I've come up with some of my own -- so don't fear, we're still eatin' well!

Sweet Girl

I love this picture of our sweet little girl. She looks so mischievous

with her little lips pursed together.

Back in Utah

Wow. It seems like we have been gone forever, and that is probably because we have. Samantha and I were gone for 6 weeks, and man did her hair grow during that time! Marcus was able to take 4 weeks off, which was nice for me, but I think anxiety provoking for him. He has a lot of work he's doing and catching up on, but it was worth it to be with family. Samantha was, of course, a hit in both California and Michigan.



Evidence of Samantha's extreme hair growth!









In California she seemed to be in performance mode. She began climbing up stairs, trying to stand, playing the piano, and even breaking a bowl while Mom fed her. I guess I was going too slow because she started flailing her arms and next thing we all hear is a loud crash. She knocked the bowl right out of my hands and it shattered across the floor. Oops. I was comforted seeing Marcus's mom, affectionately called "Grammy", laughing at the entire scene. Samantha enjoyed her first merry-go-round ride in San Francisco (Pier 39) thanks to Uncle Chris.






Samantha received her first black eye while visiting her family. Luckily the crying stopped as soon as she was held by her mommy. While taking a bath in the kitchen sink, she was determined to bite the faucet. She pulled and grabbed, and tried to bite....but slipped and bumped her eye. Bumpa -- (Grandpa) -- don't worry, we won't blame you forever. Afterall, it was bound to happen sometime.

Marcus and I were also able to relax a little bit by sleeping in, watching Transformers, and going to the Archery Range with Chris.

During the trip, we were happy to be able to meet up with some family. We spent a day with the Ashworth's and the Boal's. I hadn't seen my uncle and his family since we got married, so it really was a treat to spend time with them. We are looking forward to getting to know Molly and Conor, and the whole crew, a bit better.





Michael Ashworth Uncle Brian, Aunt Margaret, Marcus, Jenny, Conor, Samantha, and Molly



In Michigan Samantha had a few big firsts. Within a few days of being in MI, we had a classic Michigan storm. The sky quickly became dark, the wind started blowing, the thunder and lightning began, and it poured rain. Marcus, Samantha, and I watched the storm from the front porch.






It wouldn't have been Michigan without spending time at the beach -- so that's what we did. Though the water was too cold for me, Marcus enjoyed swimming to the dock with Ian and Lindsay and jumping off the platforms. Samantha had her first tube ride behind Grandpa's boat with cousins Ian and Lindsay. As I held her, she would look back at me and giggle. It may have been a nervous giggle, but it was a giggle nonetheless! She also went to the zoo for the first time. That was quite a treat. But the most fun was just being with her Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Adam, and cousins Ian, Lindsay, and Alex.












To celebrate how much Ian read through the summer, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's! Wow was that fun. Ok, Samantha didn't really care. But it was fun for us.






When I was little, I had one doll -- only one because most dolls scared me. Samantha began playing with this doll and I couldn't help but think they both looked alike -- maybe it was a massive amounts of hair, but it was cute to see them "play together."





6 weeks is a long time to be gone, so a part of me was ready to get settled again. But it still was very difficult to leave and start life, start responsibility, and start cooking again! (Thanks for all the great meals.) Yes, tears were shed upon leaving. We loved being surrounded by and catching up with family. Now it's time to get the oil changed, change the transmission fluid, deep clean the apartment, clean the carpet, continue to baby-proof the place, scrapbook our vacation, reupholster a chair, buy a picture frame for our family picture (thank you Jeff Allen), etc., etc., etc. Sheesh. I'm tired just thinking about it!