Maisie is sampling the product before it freezes !

The fruit of our labor - Delicious !!

Nothing says beat the summer heat like making some delicious homemade ice cream... peach in this case.  I found our old ice cream maker while attempting to de-clutter our house... and it inspired me to whip up some fresh summer goodness.  It is NOT  a low-fat treat... full of heavy whip cream, sugar and peaches.  Just what the doctor ordered !

Looking good !!  Day 4 brings a yellow tinge of bruising above Juliette's eyes, but she just keeps taking everything in stride.  I'm so excited to see how her eyes finally settle.  Our next step will be to see the opthomologist to determine if glasses are now needed.  I have a feeling she'll have to wear them... how cute will that be ??

Juliette is absolutely thriving after surgery.  She can't stop looking in the mirror and every time she does she smiles !  She's telling everyone "I have big eyes like Mom"... she's healing well... still sore and swollen but seems to be taking it all in stride.  She's been resting a lot and really seems to be in a great mood... it doesn't hurt that she is the center of attention right now.  Which of course leads to controversy in our house, because 6 year old Maisie wants to know why everyone is calling to find out about Juliette... "What about me?"   Some things never change!  I will say however, that Maisie has been such a help and has really been babying her sister.  Nice to see.

  

What a day !!  Juliette was such a brave girl today.  We got to the hospital around 6:15am and by 7:30 Juliette was on her way to surgery.  She didn't go quietly... so scared to be taken out of my arms.  She let the doctors know all about it.  The procedure took about 50 minutes and she came through it like a rock star !!  By the time we were taken back to recovery, Juliette was mad as a hornet.  She had lots of goop (that's a very medical term) in her eyes and was too sore to open them.  She calmed down immediately when she heard our voices.  I was allowed to pick her up and sit in a recliner throughout the recovery process.  We left the hospital around 10:30am... and two hours later she was able to fully open her eyes for the first time.  

It was an INCREDIBLE moment.  She turned to me... blinked several times and said, "I can see!"

A little while later, she turned to me and asked, "Look in the mirror?"  I picked her up and took her to look at herself.  She immediately started smiling... leaned in for a closer look and declared that she now has "big eyes!"  

I am amazed how quickly she's recovering... by late this afternoon she was dancing in the living room and playing with Maisie.  I am so grateful for the medical team that helped to change my daughter's life.

So happy that her world has opened up even further.

Tonight, as she was brushing her teeth, she again leaned into the mirror for a closer look.  This time she declared:  "I look weird."  I told her no you don't, you look beautiful.  But she persisted with her weird declaration... then turned to me and asked... "Why that man take my eyebrows ?"  :)  She makes me laugh !!   What a joy to have this child in my life !!!

This is Juliette's referral picture taken in Maoming, China.  I'm not sure how old she is here but it is the face that I fell in love with.  From the beginning I knew Juliette was special.  She weighed less than 5 pounds at birth... I don't know if she was a preemie or not... but I do know that since this tiny little girl was born... she's been a fighter.   Her paperwork listed her as suffering from "droopy eyes"... which we now know is a congenital condition called Ptosis.  Basically her eyelid muscles don't work, so to compensate she has to tilt her head back to see.  This condition has worsened over the last 18 months to the point that she repeatedly falls and bumps into things.  We've made the decision to go ahead with surgery to lift her lids.  Our surgeon is using a procedure with Dynarod Slings that will in essence act as a window shade of sorts.  The sling will attach to Juliette's forehead muscles and it is those muscles that will eventually enable Jules to open and shut her lids.

Surgery is set for Monday, July 12th at 7:30am.  We are all very hopeful that this will open up Juliette's world even more.  I'm sad for the fact that the face we fell in love with is going to change... that sweet / timid little girl in the photograph who is completely unaware about her fate... but with those eyes that beseech someone to love her.  

We LOVE her beyond words... and we are so fortunate to have this warm, caring, silly little pixie in our lives.  I'm looking forward to Monday.  Change IS a good good thing.

Please keep Juliette in your thoughts and prayers.