"Oh, yes mama...."

This past Wednesday Ellie had an appointment with the Cranial Facial Surgeon. We had not talked to Ellie about her nose or her eye and that we could perhaps have doctors "fix" her. Why have we not talked about it? Well...we really wanted to give her some space, to allow her to know that she is loved for the incredible little girl that she is, and that to "fix" her nose had nothing to do with who we as her parents see her as or that we would love her any more or any less if she had one nostril or two. It is such a gift from our Heavenly Father that in just a mere two months time this little one knows that she is loved, knows that we are the family that she has always longed for, and knows that she can trust us. She delights in all that is around her...she delights in who God has made her to be. So back to the story of the appointment...I was tucking Ellie in bed two nights prior to the appointment and begun to tell her that she would not be going to school on Wednesday morning. I told her that Dad and I were taking her to a doctor. She quickly asked if there would be any hurts...and it was only a consult so that answer was easy for me and one that she of course loved. Then I proceeded with, "Ellie would you like to have two nostrils, two noses"? Her eyes got really big and a huge smile grew on her face. "You mean I can really have two?" And she pointed to her nose. "Yes sweetheart, the doctor is going to look at your nose and he may be able to give you another nostril." Her quick reply,"Yes mama, oh, Yes mama, I want two noses!" Later that evening Alex was tucking Ellie in bed and asked Ellie if she wanted 5 noses. Her reply to Alex... "Oh no, not five noses", as she lay there giggling, "just two noses". She then informed Alex that she wanted glasses too. So now we begin many doctors visits, pricks, pokes, CT scans, and surgeries. Please continue to pray for Ray and I that we will make the right decisions....those that would be in God's will for Ellie. Also pray that we as parents would be able to communicate to Ellie what is needed in order for her to understand all that will be going on. She does, at some level, understand that this will take a long time. What a long time is to her we do not know. Her first CT scan is Tuesday Nov 25. She will have an appointment with the ophthalmologist in Dec. He will have already seen her CT scan, so he will be able to give us more information about what is really going on with her left eye. We will then have another appointment with Dr. Kelly (cranial facial surgeon) in Jan. and will have a better idea of what all of the surgeries will entail.