Just Like Gilligan

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip---
The cast is a cast-away!
In the above picture Ellie's wearing her new brace, but before she put it on, her mama got one of the best birthday presents ever. I got to hold my baby up close and tight.

Ellie's hip is healing well. She will wear her brace 24 hours a day, except to take baths and change diapers. Our challenge will be to keep her from trying to walk until we see the doctor again in 4 weeks.

Thank you for your prayer. Please pray for continued healling.







Dandruff??
So, with all that dead skin not being scrubbed for 7 weeks, Ellie has flaked everywhere she went today. I tried to clean her up some after the cast came off, but without a good soaking, it was almost a waste of time. She's left skin behind like Hansel and Gretel dropped their bread crumbs.




A "Real" Bath
So, with all that dead, dry skin, and having missed a bath for exactly 7 weeks, our Ellie was one happy girl in the bathtub tonight! We can't leave her for a second, though, because she wants to pull up to get toys from the side.





What a Difference a Year Makes
This day last year, my birthday, was the last day we would ever spend without Ellie in our family. She had lived in our hearts for almost a year.

We flew from Beijing to Taiyuan, where we found another world--Chinese citizens who were not accustomed to seeing Americans walk down the street. We visited Wal-Mart wehre so much was the same and so much was different...especially in the meat department.
And, that night I had to take a sleeping pill to fall asleep because I couldn't stop thinking about my baby!