Found some pictures

I hooked up my small camera to download some pictures and I saw these of Laila. These were taken the morning right before her surgery. I had actually forgotten I had taken them. It was so hectic that morning and I wanted to snap these really quick before we headed out from our hotel. I do not like to say this but part of me wondered if these would be the last pictures we had of Laila. When I think about that day I think about the intense rollercoaster of emotions we were going through and all that intense anxiety is still very tangible. I knew she was in great need of this surgery. But more than anything that morning she was HAPPY. She woke up with the biggest smile at 4:00am. I mean really who smiles at 4am anyway! :) Every time I looked at her she was smiling. Inside I was crumbling into a mess, but I put on a "fake" brave face for her. This was HER day in her mind and she was so happy to have her heart surgery. I have a video from the night before her surgery she was practicing a "soccer run" and she would have to stop after running just the length of the hotel room to take a breath. Now I think she could run the hotel room 20 times and not be out of breath! It has been so amazing for her and her being excited about the surgery made it easier on Jarrod and I to go through everything. Yes she still will have some issues to face, but right now things are good. Really good!! Anyway my long rambling point is that these kids need families and they also sometimes need life saving surgeries. I hope more people will consider adopting these kids with complex conditions. To think how important this was to Laila and to think she could still be waiting in China for a surgery they would never do is..well... it is too hard to think about. The little bit of stress is nothing compared to the reward of seeing her happiness.

You are stronger than you think.

These kids are stronger than you think as well.

One word to describe Laila is resilient. She has bounced back into everything and goes nonstop from as soon as she wakes up until she falls asleep. She is a blessing to us.

Anyway I wanted to post these pictures.

To see the before:

Her face & hands had began to stay so puffy and her lips had that purple tinge.

and after:

She just looks like a total different child. She glows!