Mulan & The Little Emperor

Happy Halloween 2007! What a busy day!!
Lin-Ley had Farm Day at her school today. They are not allowed to wear Halloween costumes so instead they have a theme day. All of the students and teachers were dressed as cowboys and cowgirls. There was so much going on and I was trying to help out so no photos of Farm Day but we still have a way to remember the day. Lin-Ley came home wearing most of the paint that she was supposed to use when painting her pumpkin. That is about the 15th shirt she has ruined this school year!
Tru also had his first Halloween. At his school they had a Halloween parade and they went trick-or-treating at some of the local stores and restaurants.

In this photo Tru takes a break from his first trick-or-treat outing. Good thing - Mom's arm needed a break as well!




After the parade it was back to the classroom, back into their clothes, and then it was party time. Tru was the first one to be seated and he tore into his cupcake.



After the first bite of the cupcake icing Tru gave a huge smile and then shivered with excitement.
When he was done there was not a single morsel left of that cupcake!








Lin-Ley was so excited to be Mulan! Before Dallas left he and Lin-Ley spent a whole day together (just the two of them) and they came home with this costume and every available accessory.


Many people told Lin-Ley that she looked very beautiful tonight. Most of the time she just said "Thank you." But... I heard her say "I know" a few times!








The Little Emperor on the move.







After trick-or-treating we loaded up and went to the Fall Festival at our church. There were many games to play and each time Lin-Ley completed a game she won a prize. There were also door prizes. We received tickets upon entering the church and we wrote our names on the backs of the tickets that went into the drawing bowl. Near the end of the drawing there was a ticket pulled and the guy could not read the name. I thought to myself that it was probably Lin-Ley's ticket because she wrote her name herself. Sure enough, he read the letters on the ticket as "Lin Her". Who knew Lin-Ley knew how to abbreviate?! Her prize was a pack of small decorative notebooks. She was so excited I think she would have traded in all of her candy for those notebooks.

Tru had his first M&M's and Sprite tonight. He loved both!!

They are now both sound asleep - oh the quiet!

Three Months

It was three months ago today that Tru joined our family. What a sweet, sweet baby boy! He has grown and developed and learned so much is this short amount of time. We love, love, love him!

While waiting for Lin-Ley's school bus this morning we were just sitting around in the car and Tru was showing us some of his new tricks. I caught some of it in this video clip:




And what says All-American Boy better than this photo? It did not take Tru long to fall in love with McDonald's fries!!

Tru's Big Day

Finally, after almost three months of waiting, yesterday (10/25/2007) Tru had his first visit with the head of pediatric orthopedics at Johns Hopkins. For those of you that are not quite sure of Tru's "challenge", he has a congenital shortening of his right leg. In addition we learned, after seeing the x-rays, that the tibia is totally missing from his right leg. The femur and fibula bones do not meet at the knee joint but rather criss-cross (for the lack of a better term) in the knee area. Also, his fibula is greatly curved.

I will try to give an overview of the discussion that the doctors and I had:
After examining Tru and looking at his x-rays the doctor sat back, looked at me and asked me what I knew of Tru's condition, what I had read and what I thought the best course of treatment might be. While I was surprised that he took this approach I was pleased because Dallas and I do have some rather strong opinions on what we do and do not want for Tru. At the end of my somewhat prepared speech on the matter the doctor sat back, nodded and said, "I think that is a very mature view of the situation and I agree." I almost cried with relief.
So... he decided the best course of action at this time was to do nothing - no surgeries - and just fit Tru for a prosthesis (to the knee) to get him up and walking. How exciting!! No surgery and Tru will be walking soon.

I left the hospital beaming and could not wait to get home and email Dallas with all of the details. I did email him and was fortunate enough today to receive the first phone call from Dallas while "in theater". I was able to tell Dallas what the doctor had said and he was also surprised and pleased to hear what the doctor had to say.
(By the way, Dallas is fine - just a little tired because they have been traveling for several days to get to his ultimate destination. He said they should be more settled in a few days and hopes to have his computer set up soon so that we can try the webcam.)

So we have a course of treatment, we are pleased with this treatment method and things are rolling to get Tru up and walking.
But wait... there is more!

Today, I received a voice mail from Dr. Todd at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He said he had happened to see Tru's medical file and x-rays and would like me to call him. He wanted to see Tru.
I thought that was very interesting that a doctor I had never met nor heard of was calling me requesting an appointment to see Tru. So I called and had to leave him a voice mail.

[Just to back-track a little: Tru has seen several doctors at Walter Reed but no one in the orthopedic department. As a matter of fact the military told us that they could not handle Tru's case and sent us to a civilian doctor instead (Johns Hopkins). Tru had also had some x-rays taken at Walter Reed but only in preparation for our appointment at Johns Hopkins - no doctors at Walter Reed had any need or desire to see these x-rays. ]

Finally Dr. Todd called my cell phone and we spoke for a while. Apparently the radiology department pointed out their findings (after taking the x-rays I needed to take to Johns Hopkins) to Dr. Todd in the orthopedic department. That triggered his call to me. He told me that Tru's condition is a one-in-a-million case and he wants to see Tru and see what he can do for him. I told him about our visit to Johns Hopkins and he said he really wants to see Tru because he thinks he can offer more options. Dr. Todd's specialty is pediatric orthopedics but lately spends much of his time treating combat patients so he deals with amputees and limb injury victims on a daily basis. He went as far as to ask me when I wanted to come in and what time was best for me. What? He is asking me what is best for me? Well there is no way I can pass up this opportunity so Tru will be seeing Dr. Todd on 11/5/2007. Very interesting! I will let you know what happens!

And now for a photo - yes, I always have my camera with me:


Sometimes even going to the grocery store can be fun!

This Just In...

We received this brief email from Dallas last night:

We made it. It is about 0300 in the morning. We will get about two hours of sleep before we have to get up. We did have a lay-over (two hours) which was some small town in Germany, about four hours from Paris. I will call when I can, which should be the next day or so.
xoxodth

Looking Good!

Bye Bye Daddy

Dallas was able to come home for the weekend but had to leave again this morning. Please keep him in your prayers as he travels to Kuwait/Iraq. He is not scheduled to be home for good until Nov, 2008. Thanks to technology we expect to stay in contact via web phones. That way the kids will be able to see and speak with him several times a week via computer.

Before taking Dallas to the airport he helped take both kids to school. First stop was Tru's school. He had a special treat in store for Daddy.

Although Tru's right leg poses a challenge in most everything he does he does not give up. He is very determined! His teachers had been telling me that he loves the slide in his classroom and that he scared them to death the first time he started going up the steps. They just knew he was going to fall and seriously hurt himself. Well... take a look for yourself. Click on this link to see a short video of Tru:

Go Tru - Go Tru!!

Personally, my favorite part of the video (other than the very satisfied look on Tru's face) is the very beginning when he is hiking his behind into the air to get up on the first step. He makes me smile!

Next stop, waiting for the school bus with Lin-Ley. The camera is always ready and Dallas and Lin-Ley are always ready to pose.

She loves her Moddy!

(Lin-Ley calls Dallas "Moddy" most of the time. When she was first learning to say mommy and daddy she seemed to combine the two words when speaking to Dallas. She thought that was correct, he thought it was cute, so it stuck!)

Back to the weekend for a minute... To prepare Dallas for his journey we needed to load his ipod so we stopped at the library to check out some tunes. While Dallas browsed the music section the rest of us hit the children's section. Now you would think that Tru would play with the toys and Lin-Ley would look at the books right?? Wrong!

Yes, he was considering pulling every one of those books off of the shelf! He pulled one book out, looked over his shoulder at me, and then decided he had better move on.

Look at me!

Progress Report:

Tru has been home for two months. He is doing great! He is happy, a good sleeper (which make us all happy!), a good eater and as I mentioned earlier, one very determined little boy. So far he has seen six doctors, has one surgery scheduled for November and will finally see the ortho doctor on Oct 25th for the first time.

And speaking of progress... Today when I picked Tru up from school he was drinking from a.... SIPPY CUP! I washed his last bottle tonight. Again, Go Tru - Go Tru!!

Down On The Farm

Lin-Ley had a play date with her friend Jordyn this weekend so Tru and I tagged along. The girls were in preschool together for a few years and we still try to stay in touch even though they no longer attend the same school.

We went to the local petting farm for some up close and personal animal time. First stop, the goats!

Because Tru is not walking yet I was concerned about his being able to get in on the action. But never fear! All of the animals seemed to come to him.

This baby goat climbed up on the stroller for a nibble at Tru's pants. Then they just stared at each other for a while.

All of the baby animals were a big hit. Lin-Ley did not want to leave them.

Another staring contest.

No matter where you go, there is always time to stop and play Princess.

If you want me to come over there you will have to feed me...

Ok... Tru thought this was a little too close for comfort.

Wheeeee!

Ride 'Em Cowgirl! But with a princess wave of course!

Yall Come Back Now 'Ya Hear!

The Media Star

On Lin-Ley's first day of Kindergarten she made the local newspaper. She had not told us that she was photographed (I guess there was too much excitement that day) so we were surprised the second day of school to hear people saying that they had seen Lin-Ley in the paper. So of course... we went out and bought several copies. Lin-Ley's principal was also kind enough to send me a copy with a nice note. Lin-Ley is very proud of this photo!

Forgive the blacking out of all of the names in the newspaper clipping but where children are concerned you can never be too careful!

Tru's First Day of Preschool

Tru started preschool on the same day Lin-Ley started Kindergarten (August 27, 2007). I called around 10:30AM that first day to see how he was doing. His teachers were amazed at how well he was doing. They said he was scooting all over the place! He was not shy and he was a great eater.

On that day the Jump Bunch was at their school. This is an outside program that visits the school once a week with different activities. That week they brought in a collapsible tube (see pictures) that the kids were to crawl through.
They said Tru got in line and scooted right through!

As a matter of fact, they said they could not keep him out of the tube! He loved it!! He would just crawl inside and stop. They had to coax him out.

Don't you wonder what he is thinking??

There goes the "scooter"! Watch out because when he wants to go somewhere or get something nothing is going to stop him!

So, Tru had a great first day of school and continues to thrive. They said he always has a happy disposition. That's our boy!

These pictures were provided by Tru's school.

The Lovely Duckling and The Reluctant Frog

Come on! Just one little kiss.

Relaxing on Labor Day

Dallas, Lin-Ley, Tru and Airborne relaxing in the yard. Yes, Airborne is still hanging in with us. She is 15 years old now. She is a little frail, somewhat blind, and almost deaf but watch out - she can still give you a "nibble"!

Playing nice.

Rough Housing!

High Five!

And now a few photos taken by our newest photographer... Lin-Ley:

Not bad Lin-Ley!

One Month Later

It has been one month since Tru joined us. He is already a totally different little boy. He is happy, healthy and we are enjoying watching him learn and grow. He has had a few visits with the doctors, had six shots and given blood but he still seems to like us!! We love him too. Lin-Ley is starting to warm up too. She has taken the sharing of our attention pretty hard but she is finally coming around.

On The Road Again!

(Leaving Baltimore for Louisiana)

We arrived back in the U.S. on August 8th. On August 18th we were going again. This time we flew to Louisiana to visit our families and to introduce Tru to everyone.

Well, it would not be easy... When we arrived for our connecting flight in Memphis we found that our flight to Baton Rouge had been canceled. We had to hang around for 6 hours for another flight. So we browsed, ate, saw many Elvis impersonators, and took pictures of practically everything we could find trying to pass the time.

Lin-Ley and The King.

Trying to kill time until the next flight.

STILL trying to pass the time...

We made it! As soon as we could collect the luggage, pick up the rental car and strap in the car seats we were on our way to Pride.

Of course throughout our visit Tru was a big hit and he grew more comfortable as the days flew by. He was quite entertaining at times!

"Just a Swinging" with Pa-Pa Bill (Jody's dad)

Lin-Ley was fascinated with the cows. (and the dogs, and the cats, and the goat!)

Pa-Pa Bill and Ma-Ma Shirley as well as Pa-Pa Cowboy and Ma-Ma Linda had pools for Lin-Ley and Tru.

Lin-Ley named Dallas' dad Pa-Pa Cowboy when she first began talking. He is never without his cowboy hat so the name just stuck.

Tru's first 4-wheeler ride.

Feeding the cows!

The night before we left Uncle Cecil brought over a truck load of bread for the cows. Apparently the cows get this treat a couple times a week.

Lin-Ley and Olivia (my best friend Melissa's little girl) were supposed to stand in the truck and watch. But they had other plans and decided to get in on the action.

See the bread flying through the air? Unfortunately Uncle Cecil received many pieces of bread to the face and head. Oops! Sorry Uncle Cecil!

Our flights back to Baltimore were uneventful thank goodness! It was a good but short visit with our families. Back to reality! Our big girl started Kindergarten on Monday (8/27/2007). How time flies! She is enjoying riding the bus and going to Kindergarten.

Waiting for the bus on Lin-Ley's first day of Kindergarten.

Just so you know... When we asked Lin-Ley how she enjoyed her first day of school she informed us, "I do not go to school. I go to Kindergarten!"

Did you really expect to see anything other than a Princess backpack??