We aren’t sure exactly how much she can see so far because she can’t tell us, so we’ll just be observing her to see how it goes. After adjusting her glasses she was set to go and we headed over to In-N-Out for a celebratory dinner. We must have been quite the sight as we hovered over her. We ended up telling a few people in line her story, and Hope was getting a little fan club right there on the spot. We even told the cashier and he must have appreciated it because he gave us a couple extra orders of fries. As we ate dinner Hope had the cutest little smile on her face. The best way to describe it is that she seemed to have a look of relief on her face. She enjoyed eating her french fries and kept looking up at the lights. We were excited when our friends the Kellers showed up who happened to be eating dinner at In-N-Out as well, and we all got to have dinner together!

It definitely seemed that Hope was reaching for things that she normally wouldn’t have been able to see. We don’t know what her vision is like at this point, but we do know it’s better than it was! The doctor said it will probably take a while for her brain to program the eye to see, so we are thinking it will get better over time. We had no problem at all keeping the glasses on her, because she wasn’t trying to take them off, which was something we were really worried might happen. So far we just have some french fry grease to clean off them! Here are some pictures of our celebration….

On a fun and exciting note, Hope has taken a real liking to the ABC song. She practices it again and again all day. She is really starting to be able to pronounce the letters, and with all that practice, she is going to be a pro soon! Todd was taping her singing it tonight, and I will have him upload it asap for you all to hear!

Hope you all have a Happy New Year! We love you!

This is the wonderful organization that gave us a generous adoption grant via their “Change for Orphans” campaign. Click here to revisit that story from October 2007.

And so we thank our Heavenly Father this year for His Christmas blessings!

Merry Christmas!

The doctor put Hope under anesthesia and examined her eye to discover that it has no remaining scar tissue as he thought it would have, and that it actually has healed to a degree that he has never seen anything like or even thought was possible! He said that the retina in her right eye has fully reattached and the eye looks completely normal and he thinks that she can now be fitted for a special contact lens or maybe glasses and then be able to see with fully usable vision out of that eye! Kim said that she then reminded him that she had told him we’d be his first miracle back in July! (To which she said he gave a slight chuckle of acknowledgment)

As far as the other eye, the retina is still completely detached and torn and and the eyeball is noticeably smaller than the other, so Hope will probably be fitted with a prosthetic eye for it sometime soon. But we are very excited about the report for the other eye and the next step is to schedule an appointment with a specialist pediatric optometrist who will guide us on getting Hope her corrective lens!

Well Kim may have more detail/corrections to add to the post later, but I couldn’t wait any longer!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6457320

Their family blog is here: http://tracieloux.wordpress.com/

Here is the sweetie they are adopting:

For Aidan,

Kim

Here is some audio from this morning of Hope and Abigail singing: Download audio file (rahrahrahyourboat.mp3)

On another note, we are off to the dr. today to get a kidney ultrasound. With the melamine scare from China with baby formula, it is advised that any child born 2005 and later gets an ultrasound to check for kidney stones. We pray she doesn’t have any and will keep you updated regarding what they hopefully do not find!

Next week she goes in for another eye surgery to remove more scar tissue from her retina, and hopefully restore a little more vision ability. The dr. wasn’t too excited about a huge improvement the last time we saw him, but maybe this time! Updates to follow!

view more pictures at www.tmphillips.com

We had our first big meeting with Hope’s preschool recently where they gave us an update and also told us the various goals they have set for her to meet this year. They were really impressed with the way that she has developed an understanding of English so quickly, and also with her desire to please. She is very motivated to learn, and they all continued to remark at how smart she is. That’s my girl!

She just said her first sentence the other day. When she was playing ball with Daddy she said, “kick it.” and kicked the ball. It’s so cute to hear her little voice forming words. She has a sweet little breathy kind of voice. She has also been becoming much much more relaxed these days. Many of the aggressive behaviors have completely stopped, and she is generally a happy girl it seems. She loves to giggle, and will often giggle out of the blue for no apparent reason. I always wonder what she is thinking about!!! She also loves to be swung up in the air like a flying trapeze. She is pretty daring, and isn’t afraid when she is in motion. Todd is going to post a video showcasing some of Hope’s acrobatic abilities soon so stay tuned! She loves spinning around, going on swings, doing somersaults, flips, just about anything that involves moving. She truly is a treasure!

Well it’s past midnight, so I’d better get to bed! I will try to write more frequently!

Love, Kim