Never a dull moment with the Ellis'

As I sat in the big wooden, abundantly used rocking chair, tears rolled down my cheeks as I tried to sing to Mayla just now before nap time. Today was one of those days as a parent, you don't want to experience.

Mayla had an eval with an early on developmental specialist. We have been concerned about her speech, or lack there of for months, and we finally got together with the right person and was able to have an appointment here in the comfort of our home. Mayla roamed about playing with one toy after another while Erin the psychologist and I spoke about Mayla's birth, health and the way she started life. All the while, Mayla continued on the move, her usual quiet self.

Mayla never went through the cooing/gagaga/googoo stage of life, nor has she yet uttered dada and mama hasn't been spoken more than 10 times in her almost 17 months of life. No babbling, no jabbering! This coupled with her previous heart condition, lack of oxygen in the begging days of her life, inability to drink without coughing or eat without gagging definitely rose some red flags for Erin.

After an hour of her interacting, talking and questioning myself and Mayla, Erin came to the conclusion that Mayla was at the stage of a 7 month old. It took every ounce of my being not to lose it at that moment! There's something different about 'thinking' something was wrong with Mayla and being told mater of fact something is wrong. Even as I type, my stomach hurts replaying Erin's words in my head!

What's next, what does this look like for us, i'm not really sure. I do know that we will be in contact with our doctor as Mayla needs to have a diagnostic feeding eval done as well. Mayla gags and chokes often when eating and almost every time when drinking, something that makes meal times one of the most stressful parts of my day. Today she gagged, choked and then puked during lunch, i'm sure if she keeps this up it will be hard to find anyone willing to babysit her during meal times:)

Will and I pondered for a year now, wondering what God had in store for bringing us back here..and maybe it's now clear, being in a place where they speak the same language and can help get us to the place Mayla needs to be! I see a lot of appointments in the future, but I also see Jesus at those appointments with us. I felt him rocking with me in the rocking chair just a bit ago, Him holding me as I held Mayla.

She is an amazing, smart little girl, an absolute bundle of joy (even Erin said so:) and i'm blessed that I get to be her mom and help her along in this journey and I look forward to sharing it with you!!

We have survived a Year in the USA....

...and surprisingly we have only gained a few pounds, that feels like our biggest achievement some days!!!!!!  :)

Hello from cold, snowy, arctic Michigan! It's true, we have been back in the USA for a year now, and it has gone FAST! Do we miss Switzerland? More than we thought we would. Just yesterday we said, "remember getting on a train and going somewhere feeling like you were having a mini vacation? Oh yes, I miss that. Remember living in a place where they plowed their sidewalks so you could actually use them? Oh yes, I miss that! Remember all the good food and good restaurants? Oh yes, I miss that!" We miss friends, we miss our tiny place that was ours (no offense mom and dad, you're great, and we GREATLY appreciate you letting us live with you), and we miss life with trains, trams and busses. We had a good life there, and we are thankful for the memories, and we are now thankful for the memories that we have made this past year, our first year as a family living in the country and state we grew up in.

We had a rough year though, and one we didn't see coming. We came back with big dreams, high hopes and great expectations. The Lord called us back; we listened, we obeyed and we felt like he then ran away from us. Each day we continued on, wondering what was in store for us every single week. We continued to be faithful to the Lord, and even though we felt lost, we clung to the only rock we knew would not be taken from us! As we watched our bank account drain, it was hard not to freak out. Each hospital or doctor visit was like a stab to our side (and there were PLENTY of them). Many days water would just drip from our eyes, at times uncontrollably as we ventured in 'the land between'. We dreamt of days in Switzerland and longed to have them back.

We cried out to God and knew that more than ever we had to be a team, God, Will, Myself and Mayla. During hard times it's easy to put the blame somewhere, anywhere, and give up but through the help of others, we learned this was our training time, and it was time to step up. So far during 'training days' I've learned that when I was younger, I had a lot more mental toughness than I do now. The majority of training is dealing with the mental battle that comes. And for those of you who have trained for anything, or maybe your training ground is going on now...it's mental toughness that will get you if you aren't on guard, so watch out!

After a business endeavor that didn't take off near as fast as we had hoped, Will was lead to a staffing company in September that put him in touch with a head hunter. After a month of interviews, telephone calls, and calming tea, Will was offered a job he was not yet qualified for, but yet perfect for (yes interesting to us too, but we were NOT going to complain). We excitedly accepted the offer and had NO idea what laid before us. Over the course of 7 weeks, Will would undertake the most extensive studying I have EVER seen any one person do, followed by 4 equally intense exams in that short time! HE PASSED and we stayed married and more in love than ever :-) He then started work as a financial advisor for a company downtown Grand Rapids on December 17th.

What was I doing that whole time besides praying and trying to keep Mayla from interrupting Papi and his studying........I was starting my own business:) Seemed like the PERFECT time..HA! My sister introduced us to an amazing nutritional product that our family started taking in September. After seeing my niece come off her ADHD meds, my mom lose 20lbs, having restored energy myself (not needing a nap every day) and hearing the countless stories of how it was helping others by giving people's bodies the proper nutrition we need/crave, I wanted to be a part of it. So I become an independent distributor for Zija International in October. The working from home has already been a blessing to our family in countless ways, but particularly because of how we feel. If you would like to learn more, feel free to contact me, I would be happy to share!

How have we survived the past year? Prayer, God, our families support which came in MANY MANY different forms, and new friends we have met along the way, along with the old friends we keep in contact with! The memories of the past have spurred us along to want to be the best we can be in the future for each other, our family and our community of friends!

Life is not always blue skies and pretty sunsets (and if you live in Michigan this is NOT news to you). We have a Savior who knows the ups and downs of our life better than we do, and when you put your trust and hope in Him, he will renew your strength and help you fight for the things that don't seem worth fighting for.

As you are still rounding the corner to 2014, we wish you health, and abundant joy as you start a new year. May you reach up if you feel you are drowning, and reach down if you are one of the fortunate ones with love, energy, time or things to give!

 With Love from The Ellis Family

Mayla Back in Jan 2013 When we moved to the USA, she sat, didn't move....

MAYLA NOW:
Fast, Fun, Active, moving, entertaining

Our Christmas Ornament for our first year as a family in the USA!