Sad News...

I've been slow to post an update because it's not good news about Belle.  She most likely has some form of cancer in or around her liver.  The new bloodwork came back showing almost exactly the same terrible levels as last time.  


Despite what seemed like an improvement in her eating.


Despite what seemed like an improvement in her demeanor.


Despite what seemed like an improvement in her energy.


Despite everything...our old girl is dying.  And it's hard to watch.  And it's hard to think about...


But one thing that helped to perk her up about 2 weeks ago was the arrival of Aeriel, my cousin's 21 year old Quarterhorse mare.

They are like two kindred spirits, these two.  They bonded immediately.  And they don't go anywhere without the other one.

In fact, the other day, I had let them both out in front of the barn, to the pastures there and behind the house to graze, as the grass is more lush there than the current state of our moisture deprived horse pastures.  

Aeriel had wandered off a bit in exploration and lost sight of Belle.

She was trotting around, calling out for Belle.  Then suddenly,  she heard Belle's returning whinny and went RUNNING over to her ;-)

Both were so happy to be reunited again!

They then proceeded to graze again, being sure the other was not far away.

Until Belle decided it was time to head on back up to the barn.

And Aeriel dutifully obeyed.

But I fear for Aeriel and how she will handle Belle's passing.  You see, the reason she came down here to live was because her only pasture mate of many many years passed away a few months ago.  And she's been very lonely.  

Oh I know she'll be fine.  She'll bond with one of my other eight horses (in fact, I've already picked out who I think she'll like to spend her time with) but I think she might be sad for awhile.   I've started turning her and Aeriel out with the other horses but when I go to check on everyone, Belle and Aeriel are off by themselves, grazing contentedly.

It will be another transition for Aeriel.  For all of us, really. And one I'm not looking forward to.  

In the meantime, we'll keep Belle as comfortable as possible, under misters and fans during the hot daytime hours, and turnout at night under the cool stars and moon.  And we'll wait for Belle to tell us when it's time to say goodbye...

Sweet Belle

Well, I have certainly been absent for awhile!  Hope to keep this more up to date!  Much has been happening on many fronts here so I'll try to catch up a little at a time...starting with our sweet Belle.

Belle is 26 years old now.  That's ancient in horse years. The median age for a horse is 22 so Belle has lived long past that point.  And up to this point, she's been doing pretty well despite the expected joint issues.  Oh.  And there was that fracturing of her tibia a few years ago.  Twice.  That required over 6 months of stall rest.  

But we she recovered!  And she's been enjoying her twilight years well.  Until about a month ago when my vet, who was out to give spring vaccinations, noticed she felt warm.  Turns out, she had a pretty good fever going.

We hit her good with a few different antibiotics.  But it didn't help.  Blood work showed her liver was failing and her neutrophils were out of this galaxy (a normal "high" reading is 8500, Belle's were at 50,000!!)  So we kicked it into high gear and started her on a strong, 2x a day broad based antibiotic.  

And I started to see some positive changes.  She had really dropped off in her grain ration.  Normally she was getting about 6-8 scoops but had dropped down to 2 scoops a day, if I was lucky.  The girl lost weight.  I had written off the drop in grain to the heat of the summer picking up, being turned out 24/7 instead of putting her in her stall at night, and just plain old age catching up.  And we were busy.  Bad thing to overlook.  Because trying to kill this infection, get that weight back on and stimulate her appetite has been a bugger!  So now that she was on this new drug, she was up to her regular grain amounts and instead of hanging out on the fence line, napping, she was wanting to go out with Tommy and hang in the pasture.

She seemed to be a little more perky too.  But then on a different day, she'd eat just a few scoops of grain and be a little more low-key.  So, it's been hard to know if these changes will be long lasting.

Tommy would like to know too.  Because Belle's not looking so great and I think he's a little worried.  

The vet was out today and took some more blood from Belle so we can check her levels again.  We feel like surely they must come back a bit better.  He thought she looked much better than last time.  

And oh yes, there was a "little" addition to the herd last week that has helped perk Belle up...she's found a kindred spirit.  But more on that later...

And say a prayer for Belle, if you think of her.  We'd like her around as long as the Lord wills it...

Her American Name

The wait for her name and new pictures is finally over.  We decided on her name a few days ago but I was waiting for new pictures before I posted.  So without further ado, may I present Audrey YongLi!

We sent her a birthday care package for her 2nd birthday and just received these pictures today!!  I must say, she still looks a little bewildered and confused by the cake...

Or perhaps that's fear on her little face!  We included the cake, some toys, and this cute little dress she is wearing.  

I am happy to see that she is walking on her own (and actively taking steps) and even more, that she is climbing up and down stairs by herself!!  This is all good news and bodes for a good prognosis of her special need.

And I'm happy to see her cute little hair sprout is back too ;-)

Oh my little Audrey - we are so excited to get you home...

Sunday Snapshot: Introducing...Xin YongLi

Now that we have our official Referral Approval from China, it is my biggest pleasure on this Mother's Day, to introduce our newest daughter to the world!  

This is the first picture we saw of our little peanut.  She was just a few days shy of her 1st birthday when this was taken.

I was so happy one of her referral pictures showed her smiling, because in this picture below, she definitely did not look happy!

She does have a pretty cute little furrow to her brow, though!  According to the date on this picture, it was taken 2 weeks after her 1st birthday.

Once we received our Pre Approval for YongLi, we ordered an update from the CCCWA (China's adoption authority) and received the following pictures:

I loved that they have been showing her standing and taking a step here - important to see what she's capable of doing.  But my oh my - did she look more grown up now!!  

She looked years older than her referral pictures even though these were dated just 5 months after the first set of pictures we received.

The latest pictures I have of her are fairly recent, the result of a care package.  

She looks very bewildered - like she doesn't know what she's supposed to do with that cake!  But her friends seemed pretty interested ;-)

I think they put some frosting on her lip to encourage her to try some of the cake...

It looks like the little squirt with the pigtails knows exactly what to do with that cake! ;-) 

Her 2nd birthday was on May 5th...so happy that at her next birthday, she will be here to celebrate with her family!  Can't wait until she's home...

My next post should be the revealing of her new American name...I have given Jason two or three names to choose from.  He gets the final decision but I narrowed it down for him - this was the best way we I could think of as how to decide together since we have vastly different ideas on what her name should be!!

Lastly, I have a little disclaimer here - although I am participating in Sunday Snapshot this week, I did not personally take any of these pictures (obviously) and thus will not be considered for part of the contest.  However, I did want to share my news with the adoptive families out there, and I know that makes up a large part of Ni Hao Y'all's audience...of which I'm proud to be a part of as well!

RA!

Sunday Snapshot: Ava

I've had several posts on Amelia and how she's been doing lately, so I thought I should also chime in on Ava.

She's doing wonderfully, by the way.  Growing up before our eyes...not just on the outside, but the inside too.

A few months ago, after bedtime, Ava came back down to our bedroom absolutely sobbing.  Inconsolable.  She realized that there was something she thought she loved more than God.  And it had her very upset.

By God's providence, I had just finished studying Psalm 51 in my Women's Bible study.  Ava and I opened up to Psalm 51 and read it, a Psalm about true repentance.  We read it again and talked and cried some more.  Finally, she went to sleep and when she woke in the morning, she sat down and wrote the following song.  Her own personal Psalm, if you will, in praise and glory to God.

Here's the translation in case you can't read her handwriting:  "If it Weren't For God"

Verse 1

If it weren't for God we would not be singing this song

If it weren't for God we would not have pets

If it weren't for God we would not have plants

If it weren't for God, we would not be alive!

Chorus

God told Jesus to die on the cross for our sins

From that day forth

God took our sins from our dark heart

And threw them away and forgave our sins

Verse 2

We love God, oh Mighty, we glorify Him

And when we die

He will take us to our new golden eternal home

We are His sons and daughters

He gives us our names

And when He takes us to heaven

We have eternal life!

Not bad for a 9-year-old third grader, right?  A few weeks later, we were challenged in that same Women's Bible Study, to write a Psalm in our small discussion groups that we would share with the large group.  We all struggled and were unsure of what to do until I offered to use Ava's personal Psalm.  It was a hit (well at least to this biased Momma!).

And just last week, my same Women's Bible Study group had decided to stay after our meeting to have lunch together.  The little kids were to bring a lunch.  That morning, I was running late and I asked Ava to pack a lunch for Amelia.  

She did so happily and when we got to church and it was time to eat lunch, I found this note Ava had put in Amelia's lunch sack:

Dear Amelia:  Hope you have a great time.  I wish I were there to worship God.  Love Ava.

Now, lest you continue on thinking my girl is a saint, let me assure you she is NOT!  

In fact, the reason I'm sharing about these two occurrences is because she does enough on her own to balance out those scales!  


But oh, how it warms my heart to see these glimpses of the Holy Spirit working in her, sanctifying her, making her more like Him...

(For the photo specs, let me make a disclaimer here: I don't know what I'm doing really, I'm still mostly in "auto" mode, I just like taking pictures!) But for the record:
Camera: Nikon D3100
Lens: Tamron 18-270mm, 1:3.5-6.3.  
First photo settings: 100, 50 mm, f/6.3, 1/160.  
I then edited it (and all others) in Photoshop Elements using a variety of actions from MCP Actions and the Pioneer Woman!

Head over to Ni Hao Y'all for more Sunday Snapshot!