Harder and easier

We made life a little easier by the arch bars that were put in Emily's mouth. They are similar to braces and use the rubber bands that people use with braces. But instead of the bands being along the sides or in the back, they are across the front of her mouth to prevent her from opening it. This means she can't talk without a lot of work so that is definitely helping her to keep her tongue still.

However, all of her pureed/blended food now need to be about the consistency of water in order for her to get them past the bands. She was able to do thin milkshakes before--now I have to strain everything and thin it as much as possible. Here's a picture from my computer webcam; I'll try to get a better one with the camera later.

Many, many thanks to Sara for coordinating meals and care for us and to all of you bringing us food. The kids LOVED the chicken tetrazzini last night, Thuy, and they were so excited to hear about the tortilla soup for tonight, Katie. :)

And I don't yet know where it came from, but a very special thanks to whomever is letting us borrow their microwave for a few weeks. It literally brought me to tears when I heard that Katie had found one for us. It makes it so much easier to heat up small quantities of blended food for Emily, and it's so much harder for her to eat now that the quantities I'm giving her are even smaller. Please pray that she would stay healthy these next few weeks and that we would be able to feed her well.