Spring is Coming!!!!

February 27th

Hello Again from the Krol family in sunny Ellicott City today :)  We are SO happy to finally see the sun shining after this crazy-long winter!  Last week was especially miserable as we battled the stomach and respiratory flu.  We are all on the mend, praise God, and Catherine didn't succumb to any of the germs floating around (must have built up some powerful immunity in the orphanage)!  Christmas was a joyous time here although we did miss traveling to Roanoke to see my (Christina's) family.  We haven't figured out yet how we are going to deal with the 5 hour trip as Catherine tends to get car sick, sometimes even on very short trips.  Possibly an Easter trip is in the planning as the boys get a week off their wild swim schedule for Spring Break.

Yesterday was  our 9 month post-placement visit with our wonderful Bethany social worker, Debby.  We had a nice visit, and she was quite impressed with Catherine's progress.  I guess the biggest news is she is potty trained!  She still needs to have a urology consult, but as far as we can tell, her development in this area is completely normal.  Also her gross motor skills have improved exponentially...she is running, jumping and climbing like an old pro.  A joy to see!

Other news from the homefront:  Peter is now 13!!!!  Eeek!  It is very hard for me to believe we are now the parents of a teenager.  Where does the time go???  He continues to be enamored  of anything technological but also enjoys reading and listening to Christian radio dramas.  Pray for us as we begin to navigate these years of challenges as well as opportunities.  The other boys are getting along well in their school work and love being best buddies.  They all have plenty of time to rile up, annoy, and LOVE on their new sister as we  continue to home school.  It is so much fun to see the way their relationships have developed over these months.  I am blessed, indeed, to be at home with them as they learn and grow!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we endeavor to teach them (and remind ourselves) to love the Lord and serve Him faithfully above all else!

PS  Our next step medically is a post-op MRI to be scheduled soon (she will have to be put to sleep) and then a visit to the orthopedic surgeon in May to determine the need for a rod in her spine to correct the scoliosis. 

God bless you all!

Catherine and Mommy :)

Merry Christmas

The Krol Side Cousins

Patrick helps Catherine into the snow

Catherine and her Grandfather

Catherine and her brothers playing with the hamster

Culinary Arts with Catherine and Christopher

Mmmm...Cupcakes!



Updated Slideshow

Hello Everyone, this is Peter,
    I have recently created a new slideshow and would like to share it with you all.  It contains photos from home as well as a new music track (at the end)!  Go to the end to see more recent pics from home.  Anyway, here it is!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi All! 

Hoping everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!  We here at the Krol household were definitely blessed to ALL be together this year.  We spent the day at Stan's parents in Baltimore with both his sisters' families and lots of wonderful cousins and aunts as well.  It was the first time in several years that all our families had been together.  We got a wonderful group picture of all the kids (see below)...it was so fun to see them all together!



It is so hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner!  I can't remember a fall season that has passed so quickly for me before (must be a sogn of my age and/or busyness)!  I have really been slack about blogging and I apologize to anyone that reads our ramblings.  Life has been very, very busy between Catherine's recovery, home schooling, and (of course) swimming.   (Even today I have a couple kids at the pool...no rest for the weary swimmers :)  Mostly, I have been wanting to share how beautifully Catherine has recovered.  It is a joy to have our happy-go-lucky sweetheart back with us.  For quite some time after her hospital experience she was rather solemn and sad.  Now she is mostly all smiles and giggles...praise God!  Thank you for your continued support and prayers.  We will head back to the Orthopedic surgeon soon to asess her need for the grow rod.  Please pray with us that her spine has straightened up enough after the release that she will not need it.  We will keep you posted.  Enjoy some updated pictures below :)

 Zoning in front of the Nintendo Wii

Catherine and her cousin, Trinity

All of the Krol Cousins

Catherine is Home Recovering

Catherine came home Tuesday night and slept well.  Wednesday, she still has some pain but is happy to be home.  She even gets up and walks around on her own some.

Sunday Smiles

October 3rd
Catherine continues to do well in the hospital.  She had a few rough nights where she would startle from her sleep and sometimes sweetly say "Mommy" or "Daddy" and smile but usually woke very sad.  Apparently, the startling in sleep is a side effect of the pain meds.  Last night she was having cramps and would settle if I rubbed her belly.

Catherine had been rather solemn since her operation and very compliant.  She behaves out of pure obedience when we know she doesn't want to.  It reminds me of when we first received Catherine from the orphanage.  For example, They wanted to do an echo of her heart due to her rapid heart rate.  She was very sad and crying through the imaging and the tech was having difficulty getting the images.  I simply asked her to settle and she did instantly even though she just wanted to cry.  I wanted to cry.

Another interesting thing happened when a baby a couple beds over started crying.  Catherine startled and said "BABY!"  I asked her if she remembered babies crying when she lived in China?  She smiled and said, yes.  I asked if she took care of babies in China.  She gave a very positive nod, yes.  I am wondering if hospital institution reminds her of the orphanage.  I also wonder if she thinks she is being punished and if she is good... I often reassure her that she is a good girl, we love her, that she will feel better and will go home soon.  She brightened when I showed a picture of her room.

In the morning, I got some smiles from Catherine but it was nothing compared to how excited she got to see her Mama and brothers.  She was all smiles and playing and laughing.  It was so heart warming to see her this way again.  They sat her up a littleand she enjoyed eating some real food.  She was ecstatic to see her brothers this evening. 

Stan

Sleeping Well...

Hi Everyone!  I am so thrilled to see Stan updated the blog.  As I am not sleeping tonight, I logged on to do just that and thought I'd give you a little update.  She is really resting well tonight for the first time.  I think it is because she decided to flip onto her belly, which gave both her nurse and I a scare, but she is sleeping soundly now.  We have seen much improvement today.  Late this past afternoon she woke up and was so excited to see me (I think for the moment she had forgotten where we were), giving me a real Catherine Fujuan grin!  She was almost as excited to see the milk on her dinner tray which is the first interest she's taken in anything except for a couple sips of juice.  We dipped her grahm cracker in milk and that was a huge hit (it is much easier to eat soggy cracker while lying on your back)!  Oh, the simple  joy of seeing her eat a bit and enjoy it!  She has also been watching her princess video off and on which is a good sign :) 

I just want to echo Stan's comments about the hospital and staff.  They have made a very difficult time easier with their expertise and caring. 

Please continue to pray  for our remarkable little girl!  She has been an incredible trooper through all of this.

Post-Op Update

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers.  It has been a great encouragement to us.    

The surgery went very well and ended a little early.  Catherine looked pretty sad at first but is resting well now.  Her heart rate is slightly elevated and has been running a low fever.  The doctors are watching these but are not too concerned.  She hasn't lost all of her sense of humor yet.  When I wasn't looking at her, she kicked my hand a few times to get my attention and gave me a little smile.

Christina and I have split into shifts.  I did the night-shift last night and Chris is on tonight.  I think it is a little hard on the guys at home but they are understanding.  Thank goodness for Nonnie (Christina’s mom) who has been holding down the fort.  My parents are waiting in the wing to step in also.

Surgeons are truly incredible people.  I have operated on some incredibly complex mechanisms but to have the confidence to operate on another human being astounds me; especially neurosurgery.  Most body parts seem fairly explainable, but the brain and nervous system are so mysterious.  Dr. Jallo, Catherine’s neurosurgeon, is very pleasant, confident and looks as if he truly enjoys his profession.  The nurses have been great too.  I can’t say enough good about the Hopkins staff. 

Anyway, we can't wait for Catherine to be back to her normal joyous self.  For now we will have to keep her calm and flat on her back for 3 days.  Please keep praying for all of us.

Sleep Well

Stan