Monday, January 25, 2016
Our Big Winter Storm!
The snow started to fall late Friday evening. The weather forecast was calling for 18-24 inches. We received about two feet of snow by Saturday night. Here are a few photos of the kids enjoying the snow.
Monday, January 4, 2016
When God Speaks.
So we live pretty close to the Lancaster Airport. I've seen many planes take off and land almost in my backyard. The planes that fly over our house.. shake the foundation. So it's not out of the norm for me to watch planes in the sky as I work on the dishes. Well, last night was a bit different. As I washed the dishes and stared out the window.. I watched as one plane was clearly landing another was taking off. At that moment, I felt God tugging at my heart and telling me that I will be heading back to China again. Now I'm not sure where I'm going in China, what I will be doing in China, or when I will be going back to China.. But, it was very clear to me that I'll be going back again. So please pray for me.. as I pray for God's will to be done!
Monday, December 28, 2015
It has been a while!
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| Ella and Bennett December of 2014 |
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| Ella and Bennett December 2015 |
Sorry for the lack up updates for the past few months. Here's a little catch up from month to month.
August
As you may have read in the previous post, August was a rough month for the Rohrer family. Despite the fall that Ella had right after surgery, she is healing quite wonderfully! And Bennett, wow, he has come a long way. His speech is picking up, and he has learned how to use a straw (which is huge for a kiddo with cleft.) Bennett will start speech therapy in January.. which will be quite helpful for all of us.
September
We celebrated Bennett's third birthday with family and friends in September (I hope to post photos sometime soon!)
October
In October I went on a missions trip with Storyteller Missions.. it was once again, eye opening. I felt more comfortable around the kids than I did last year. There were a lot of familiar faces, and a lot of new faces. Again.. I'll have to post photos of the trip!
November
In November we celebrated my 35th birthday with a group of friends here at home. And a few weeks after that (the week of Thanksgiving) I lost my grandfather. There were so many awful events leading up to his passing.. and I haven't been able to grasp what happened.
December
When Christmas arrived, I didn't feel quite ready. It didn't quite feel like Christmas either (it was in the 60's!) We bought the kids a few presents (mainly clothing... since Ella had quite the growth spurt!) along with a few toys. The day after Christmas we spent the morning with Phil's family eating breakfast, and of course... opening more presents. On Sunday we celebrated Christmas with my side of the family. My brother rented out a room at a local retreat center. It's not easy getting my entire family together. We were missing only two family members this year.. my sister Laura and her family (they now reside in Florida) and my brother Matt.. along with his family (he's in South Carolina now.)
It has been a rough year for our family.. and I'm just looking forward to starting fresh in the new year.
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
It's been quite a week.
Last Wednesday both Ella and Bennett had cleft surgery. Ella's surgery was pretty minor (to say the least.) Ella had a decent amount of scar tissue removed from her lip (due to her cleft lip surgery in China.) Ella did incredibly well. I cannot believe how brave children are! After Ella was in recovery, Bennett was wheeled back to the OR. I didn't get to walk him to the door, since I was with Ella at the time. Phil walked Bennett back and said that he did really well. After walking Bennett back, Phil joined me in recovery. It broke my heart to pieces to see Ella crying out in confusion. She kept pointing to her IV.. hoping, pleading that we would remove it. After she calmed down a bit, she enjoyed a mango slushy and some curious George. We waited several hours for Bennett's surgery to be complete. Bennett had a lip revision, a slight nose revision, the floor of his nose repaired, and his palate repaired. Bennett did well in recovery. He was quite sleepy and just didn't want to be bothered. Ella was soon discharged (probably around 4:30.) We spent some time visiting Bennett in his room.. and ate dinner together since it was getting late.
My plan for the evening was to bring Ella home. Phil would be spending the night with Bennett at the hospital. Well... that was my plan. Ella was sitting on Bennett's bed blowing into a pinwheel that the hospital staff gave to her. She was sitting in pretty far (not on the edge.) I was throwing something in the trash.. and Phil was feeding Bennett pudding.. when we heard an awful sound. *SMACK* Ella was on the ground. We're not sure what happened. We believe she was attempting to get off of the bed on her own.. and she must have done that rather quickly. I was in panic mode.. I wanted to scream so badly, but I held it back so I wouldn't freak her out. She was crying, I quickly rushed out into the hall and yelled for help. "HELP, she fell!!!!" I picked Ella up from behind.. and Phil could see Ella's face. "It's open.. her lip has opened back up." I was holding her up.. trying to calm her down since she was crying. There was blood on the floor, blood on my arms, and blood streaming from Ella's face onto her gray dress. "This can't be happening!" I said out loud. The nurses had us move to the next room.. where I sat on a hospital bed holding Ella in my arms. The nurses gave me some gauze and told me to apply pressure. I heard a nurse on the phone.. trying to get in contact with Ella's surgeon. Everything was such a whirlwind. I was trying not to cry.. trying to not freak out. I didn't want to upset Ella so I just kept saying "you're okay.. you're okay." A nurse put on the movie "Frozen" to distract Ella and then left the room for the moment. As the Disney Castle came on the screen I heard a muffled voice from underneath the bandage "I want to go there!" as she pointed to the screen. I said.. "what?" "I want to go there mommy." Oh my.. Ella was underneath that bandage.. and despite the tears, the gauze, and an open lip.. she made her request. Ella always asks to go to the castle when she sees a Disney film. "Yes, we'll go there!!" I said.. trying to keep us both calm. A nurse came back in to tell me that they couldn't do the repair that night.. since Ella had just downed an entire meal. We would have to stay overnight. So that's what we did. We stayed an extra night. Phil in one room with Bennett, and I in the next with Ella. It was a rough night. I kept playing out the scene in my mind. Despite having her lip open, Ella was in good spirits. I spent most of the night just crying. I couldn't believe how quickly everything happened. I couldn't believe that Ella would have to go through surgery once again.
We didn't sleep very well that night.. Ella kept popping up her head from the hospital bed saying "Mommy?" to see if I was still there. "Yes, I'm here." Then she would lay back down. This happened almost the entire night.
The following morning.. around 8:30am, Ella went back for her second surgery. The surgeon was impressed with how things went.. Ella was soon in recovery.. and cried out for us to remove the IV once again. It was HARD seeing her like that.. for the second time. While I sat with Ella in her room, Phil pleaded with Bennett to eat and drink. The hospital would not discharge him until he had a certain amount of liquids and (very mushy) solids. Once Ella felt better, she consumed some slushy and a few other liquid items. Ella didn't want to sit in her bed anymore..and insisted upon walking around the halls of the hospital. "I want down!" I looked at her.. thinking, "I'll never let this girl down on the floor again!" "Well/..." I said.. "I'll carry you." "No" Ella said. "I want down!" I somehow managed to pick her up off of the bed and convince her that I would be carrying her down the hall. She kept asking for me to put her down. We went into the playroom and colored for about two seconds. This was so unlike Ella. She told me that she was done.. and that she wanted to show daddy. So I picked her up and we headed down the hall. We made it to the half point when Ella said "Mommy, I sick!" and then she threw up. It broke my heart to see her like that. I knew we would be staying in the hospital longer, possibly overnight! A male nurse cleaned up Ella and her monkey, and brought us a pan.. "just in case." Ella told me she was hungry, so I gave her a bite of mashed potatoes. She plopped back down on her bed and told me she was done. Phil came for a visit.. and Ella asked him to talk her for a walk. They didn't get very far, luckily Ella was holding the pan that the nurse gave us. Now I knew we weren't leaving anytime soon!
As the day went on.. and it got closer to 8... I was about at my wits end. All of us needed sleep. All of us needed to go home! Around 9pm.. the surgeon came around. Ella had been eating and drinking once again.. and managed to keep it all down. The surgeon said he felt comfortable with discharging Ella, and at 9pm we ran for the door! Joking of course.. I treated Ella as if she were porcelain. We said by to our friends (a couple from SC that we had met before) and headed home. Unfortunately, Bennett and Phil had to spend yet another night in the hospital.
Friday morning came around.. and my mom agreed to watch Ella while I went to the hospital to see Phil and Bennett. Bennett still wasn't drinking. I brought Bennett's Thomas the Tank Engine cup from home and filled it with water. He began to drink! Well.. through some miscommunication, the nurses thought that Bennett needed more food as well. We had spoke with the surgeon the night before, and he said that if we thought Bennett would do better at home.. that he would discharge him.. but not without drinking a certain amount of liquid. So we waited, and waited. Bennett didn't want to drink or eat anything else. Dinnertime rolled around and the nurses told us that Bennett would probably spending yet another night at the hospital. Bennett's surgeon was busy.. so he wasn't able to stop in until sometime after dinner. The nurses got in touch with him on his phone and told them our thoughts. Soon after that.. Bennett was finally discharged! Bennett couldn't believe his eyes when the nurse finally removed his IV. I still think Bennett didn't believe we were actually leaving.. until he saw our car in the hospital parking garage. "Car!" he pointed in the direction we were parked. And just like that.. we were on our way home!
The following day (Saturday) Bennett ate breakfast.. lunch... and dinner. We knew he would do best at home!
My plan for the evening was to bring Ella home. Phil would be spending the night with Bennett at the hospital. Well... that was my plan. Ella was sitting on Bennett's bed blowing into a pinwheel that the hospital staff gave to her. She was sitting in pretty far (not on the edge.) I was throwing something in the trash.. and Phil was feeding Bennett pudding.. when we heard an awful sound. *SMACK* Ella was on the ground. We're not sure what happened. We believe she was attempting to get off of the bed on her own.. and she must have done that rather quickly. I was in panic mode.. I wanted to scream so badly, but I held it back so I wouldn't freak her out. She was crying, I quickly rushed out into the hall and yelled for help. "HELP, she fell!!!!" I picked Ella up from behind.. and Phil could see Ella's face. "It's open.. her lip has opened back up." I was holding her up.. trying to calm her down since she was crying. There was blood on the floor, blood on my arms, and blood streaming from Ella's face onto her gray dress. "This can't be happening!" I said out loud. The nurses had us move to the next room.. where I sat on a hospital bed holding Ella in my arms. The nurses gave me some gauze and told me to apply pressure. I heard a nurse on the phone.. trying to get in contact with Ella's surgeon. Everything was such a whirlwind. I was trying not to cry.. trying to not freak out. I didn't want to upset Ella so I just kept saying "you're okay.. you're okay." A nurse put on the movie "Frozen" to distract Ella and then left the room for the moment. As the Disney Castle came on the screen I heard a muffled voice from underneath the bandage "I want to go there!" as she pointed to the screen. I said.. "what?" "I want to go there mommy." Oh my.. Ella was underneath that bandage.. and despite the tears, the gauze, and an open lip.. she made her request. Ella always asks to go to the castle when she sees a Disney film. "Yes, we'll go there!!" I said.. trying to keep us both calm. A nurse came back in to tell me that they couldn't do the repair that night.. since Ella had just downed an entire meal. We would have to stay overnight. So that's what we did. We stayed an extra night. Phil in one room with Bennett, and I in the next with Ella. It was a rough night. I kept playing out the scene in my mind. Despite having her lip open, Ella was in good spirits. I spent most of the night just crying. I couldn't believe how quickly everything happened. I couldn't believe that Ella would have to go through surgery once again.
We didn't sleep very well that night.. Ella kept popping up her head from the hospital bed saying "Mommy?" to see if I was still there. "Yes, I'm here." Then she would lay back down. This happened almost the entire night.
The following morning.. around 8:30am, Ella went back for her second surgery. The surgeon was impressed with how things went.. Ella was soon in recovery.. and cried out for us to remove the IV once again. It was HARD seeing her like that.. for the second time. While I sat with Ella in her room, Phil pleaded with Bennett to eat and drink. The hospital would not discharge him until he had a certain amount of liquids and (very mushy) solids. Once Ella felt better, she consumed some slushy and a few other liquid items. Ella didn't want to sit in her bed anymore..and insisted upon walking around the halls of the hospital. "I want down!" I looked at her.. thinking, "I'll never let this girl down on the floor again!" "Well/..." I said.. "I'll carry you." "No" Ella said. "I want down!" I somehow managed to pick her up off of the bed and convince her that I would be carrying her down the hall. She kept asking for me to put her down. We went into the playroom and colored for about two seconds. This was so unlike Ella. She told me that she was done.. and that she wanted to show daddy. So I picked her up and we headed down the hall. We made it to the half point when Ella said "Mommy, I sick!" and then she threw up. It broke my heart to see her like that. I knew we would be staying in the hospital longer, possibly overnight! A male nurse cleaned up Ella and her monkey, and brought us a pan.. "just in case." Ella told me she was hungry, so I gave her a bite of mashed potatoes. She plopped back down on her bed and told me she was done. Phil came for a visit.. and Ella asked him to talk her for a walk. They didn't get very far, luckily Ella was holding the pan that the nurse gave us. Now I knew we weren't leaving anytime soon!
As the day went on.. and it got closer to 8... I was about at my wits end. All of us needed sleep. All of us needed to go home! Around 9pm.. the surgeon came around. Ella had been eating and drinking once again.. and managed to keep it all down. The surgeon said he felt comfortable with discharging Ella, and at 9pm we ran for the door! Joking of course.. I treated Ella as if she were porcelain. We said by to our friends (a couple from SC that we had met before) and headed home. Unfortunately, Bennett and Phil had to spend yet another night in the hospital.
Friday morning came around.. and my mom agreed to watch Ella while I went to the hospital to see Phil and Bennett. Bennett still wasn't drinking. I brought Bennett's Thomas the Tank Engine cup from home and filled it with water. He began to drink! Well.. through some miscommunication, the nurses thought that Bennett needed more food as well. We had spoke with the surgeon the night before, and he said that if we thought Bennett would do better at home.. that he would discharge him.. but not without drinking a certain amount of liquid. So we waited, and waited. Bennett didn't want to drink or eat anything else. Dinnertime rolled around and the nurses told us that Bennett would probably spending yet another night at the hospital. Bennett's surgeon was busy.. so he wasn't able to stop in until sometime after dinner. The nurses got in touch with him on his phone and told them our thoughts. Soon after that.. Bennett was finally discharged! Bennett couldn't believe his eyes when the nurse finally removed his IV. I still think Bennett didn't believe we were actually leaving.. until he saw our car in the hospital parking garage. "Car!" he pointed in the direction we were parked. And just like that.. we were on our way home!
The following day (Saturday) Bennett ate breakfast.. lunch... and dinner. We knew he would do best at home!
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Two Years Ago!
Monday, July 20, 2015
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Heading To China In Three Months!
I simply cannot believe that in just three months.. I'll be on a plane heading back to China! I feel like China is my second home and I've missed it since the day we left on December 4th. I still have a decent amount of money to raise by September... but we're getting there! It's amazing how much God has provided each and every month. If you'd like to contribute to my missions trip.. head over to my GoFundMe page!
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