Our Kids :)

Tonight our dossier is in Cologne (I LOVE TRACKING!!!)...overnight it will make it's way to our kid's country. Please join us in prayer that it makes it there safely, quickly and that it is translated, submitted and approved quickly. We are also praying for a quick travel date!
As we get closer to meeting our kids face to face, I have to admit there are so many different emotions surfacing. Excitement and nerves mingling all together!! Today I looked back to re-read the information we have about each one of our sweeties and so I thought I would share it with everyone. I was reminded while reading these today the urgency with which we work to bring these babies home...
Tatya

Streeeeettttch, and why did you wake me? Tatya is just waking from a nap here. She has sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. She is completely healthy and doing well. Just waiting for her family!

I have $0 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!


Angel (soon to be our Anastasia)

Angel is considered significantly delayed, but so much of this could be institutional. You have all seen how these kids, even the "lowest functioning" of them, just BLOSSOM once home. Please give Angel that chance!! Every day she waits makes it worse :(

Angel was born with ASD. She also has some strabismus.

From one of our adoptive families who visited with her in July 2009: " The caretaker was quick to motion me away from them....making a face of disgust and saying "dumb". But since she was sitting and wasn't going to be going anywhere I knelt down to cup each of their little faces. Angel was on the verge of falling asleep, but she opened her eyes and looked at me when I stroked her face. Her eyes are blueish, not brown, and her hair is kind of a mousy brown. She almost seemed stunned by my touch at first, but then was okay and let me keep stroking her check. Her muscle tone is weak and she wasn't able to really hold herself up very well.....but she was tired too, and I know that adds to the low muscle tone becoming even more low. She looked more at me once I stopped stroking her face and talked to her. She was tired though and looked like she was fighting sleeping hard to be able to keep looking at me. She finally gave into sleep while a ran my hand over her head."

Serge (soon to be Eli)

Serge is another little chunky muffin :) He has sandy brown hair and big brown eyes. He does have some strabismus, and an umbilical hernia, but no heart condition. He is doing great and will really do well in his new family!

From one of our adoptive families who visited with him in July 2009: "Serge was bewildered by me...his little tongue sticking out of his mouth the way my Eli's does :) I don't think these children get talked to in a tender tone very much, if at all. Serge looked at me like a little puppy does when their trying to understand what your saying....you know, that head cocked to the side and ears perked up look? That's how Serge looked at me :) Because he was sitting behind Angel he would lean in to my hand when ever I cupped his face. He didn't smile at me, but liked being talked too and touched. He kept putting his hand on mine when I stroked his cheek and he moved his feet for me to get me to stroke them again whenever I stopped touching them. He had no shoes on so I was able to massage his little feet & legs tenderly and he liked it :) All these children need is attention, affection and some eager arms. Once they have these things, these babies will grow in every way! Here, their looked at as "dumb"....not even worthy of touch or tender words. It explains a lot about our Isaac's own behaviors. What's amazing is how little time it's taken for Isaac to learn to accept and even desire our affection & attention. My heart hurts for these beautiful babies. "

The Most Beautiful Faces...

I have ever seen! These girls are literally the faces of an institution. They are faces that the world has tried to hide away, but oh, how beautiful they are! They DESPERATELY need a family to go and GET THEM OUT!!! They are fortunate enough to still be adoptable at this point. My prayer is that a family will come forward QUICKLY, but if not these two girls are at the TOP of our "next adoption" list. We just can't get them quickly enough. They remind me of the blog written by Derek Loux, who tragically passed away in December. We never had the honor of meeting him, but his family has forever changed us. And we are so blessed to be a part of this "adoption revolution." ...HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORRINA!! YOU ARE LOVED! (Yes Corrina will be SEVEN years old tomorrow and YES she only weights TWENTY ONE pounds!)

REDEMPTION
By: Derek Loux

Friday, December 12, 2008

Renee’ and I are sitting in the office of a telephone company in Novograd Valenski, Ukraine, using wireless internet. We are in the middle of adopting three special needs boys from an orphanage here. Two of the boys have Down Syndrome. Roman is high functioning, energetic and happy. Dimitri has serious mental retardation, failure to thrive, and though he is five years old, he is the size of a 1 year old. He has sores on his face, a distinct smell of death on him, and yells out if we try to do anything with him other than hold him. Because he has less ability to respond and learn, he naturally gets less attention and care from the orphanage workers in this world of limited resources. The harsh reality of the “survival of the fittest” principle is a life and death struggle that this little boy is losing fast. Our third boy Sasha, is a brilliant six year old who has Spina Bifida (the condition our son Josiah died from in 1996). He is like a learning sponge that can’t get enough! He is happy and alert and thirsty for knowledge and experience. So with two of our boys, we get an immediate return on any investment we make. With Dimitri, there’s not much immediate gratification. In fact, it’s unknown when and if there will be a return at all. This is the kind of situation that makes the carnal, fallen, human reasoning think, “Why try? What’s the point? What will this produce? What good will this do? Why not select a boy who has more potential? This looks like a lost cause.

Two days ago we drove for hours into the Ukrainian countryside to the village where Dimitri was born. We met with officials there and signed papers and answered their questions. We also went and saw Dimitri’s house. The day had been long, we were still recovering from jet lag, I was beginning to really miss my six daughters at home and all the familiar things our fragile human hearts entangle themselves with in feeble attempts to feel secure. Sitting in the dark on our very long drive back to Novograd that night, the Holy Spirit began to whisper to my heart, and new understanding about redemption began to take shape.

I was thinking, “Man, adopting this little boy has been so much work. This is exhausting, expensive, uncomfortable … and it doesn’t feel very rewarding right now.” What am I doing in some little Soviet car in the dark, in the middle of rural Ukraine in frozen December, as the driver dodges cats and potholes? What if Dimitri doesn’t improve at all? What if we get “nothing” out of this? … Ahhh, there it was; that dark, fallen, unreedemed, selfish human love, rooted in the tree of the knowledge of “good and evil”. The love the Greeks called “erao” love. The love where we treat someone as precious and treasured for what we can get out of it. This is unlike “agapeo” love, the God kind of love that treats someone as treasured and precious for their good, not for my good. It’s when I love a person in order to meet their needs, having no expectation of them meeting any of my needs. At a whole new level, God is working His kind of love into my weak heart, and He’s using little Dimitri to do it.

On the drive home that night, the Lord whispered in my ear, “This is Redemption. Derek, do you know how far I travelled to get you and bring you back? I had to be separated from my Son, in order to get you, just like you are separated from your children in order to get these boys. Do you know how expensive it was for Me to purchase you? It cost me everything. Do you know how broken, sick, damaged, twisted, dirty, smelly, and hopeless you were? And at the end of it all, you had nothing to give me or add to me. I did it for you. I emptied myself and became nothing so that you could have it all. This is redemption.

My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him. And when He redeems us, we can’t even really appreciate or comprehend it, just like Dimitri will never comprehend or fully appreciate what is about to happen to him … but … he will live in the fruit of it. As his Daddy, I will never expect him to understand all of this or even to thank me. I just want to watch him live in the benefits of my love and experience the joys of being an heir in my family. This is how our heavenly “Papa” feels towards us.

Today, settle your busy heart down and rest in the benefits of redemption. Enjoy the fruits of His goodness, and stop trying to “pay Him back”. You’ll never get close you goofy little kid.

Katie (1) (SECOND PICTURE)

Girl, Born August 28, 2002

This beautiful Katie is in the same institution with Miss Corinna, below. They are both just waiting and waiting, day after day, month after month, for their forever family to save them from this miserable existence. Even through all of this, Katie finds a reason to smile and wave to the world with her tiny, precious little hand.

Katie has light brown hair and the brightest blue eyes!

We are waiting on medical info for Katie, but from our missionary who visited with her: "Katya looks pleasant, she is very happy and smiling a lot. She is able to indicate her wants and needs. She does not have any words yet, but she tries! She has good use of her hands, she plays with dolls and toys. She is crawling, can sit and tries to walk (with help). She likes blocks and other toys, sensory toys, dolls, pencils, crayons and books!"


Many more photos available, please consider saving or sponsoring Katie's adoption! Would love to see one family adopt both girls! We have already lost at least (5) children with DS from this institution, let's make a chage for these kids and find some adoptive families!


More photos available!

Please contact Andrea for more information

Corinna (1) (FIRST PICTURE)

Girl, Born January 12, 2003

Corinna is a beautiful little girl who has spent the last 2 years of her life in a mental institution. She has SO much potential, and is close to walking, but spends much of her days lying in bed for lack of anything else to do. She was sent to this facility from another baby house we work in now, so it is imperative that she be saved!

She does have some strabismus, but no heart condition. She is able to stand on her own, but is not walking quite yet. She is very much a baby, even at 6 years of age. She is only 21 pounds at this time :( But she will really blossom in the care of a loving family, and has every reason to be able to walk and run and really thrive. There will be very little left of this "shell" once she gets home into her new life! She has tremendous potential, and could be another amazing success story!

The orphanage staff tell us she does like to play with toys, is interactive and affectionate, and has "potential to improve".

More photos available!

Please contact Andrea for more information

Sweet Nikolai

This little boy has grabbed my heart since the first time I laid eyes on him. Why can't I just bring him home with ours? What is ONE more? LOL Thankfully for my husband, Nikolai is NOT at our kids orphanage (AND we would have to add another room on to our house!) But oh how my heart aches for this little boy. Unfortunately, instead of looking forward to his 6th birthday, this little boy is very close to being sent to the institution, if he hasn't been sent there already. I pray that his mommy and daddy are out there and that they come forward soon! He deserves a family, they all do!

Nikolai (45)

Boy, Born April 7, 2004

This beautiful boy reminds me so much of my Reece. He is already 5 years old and is facing the institution soon. His eyes are so beautiful, hazel and soulful. When you wash his hair, it is so soft, like duckling fuzz! He is very smart, cheerful, self-sufficient, and friendly. He is delayed in his speech, but if he was able to get it out, he'd be saying "But where is MY Mommy?" (see right). Nikolai is healthy, active, and strong, and will truly thrive in a loving, family environment. Please give him that chance!

For more information, please contact Andrea directly

I have $1098 in my grant fund towards the cost of my adoption!

If adoption paperwork really was pregnancy...

we would be nine months and waddling. Everyone always refers to the adoption process as a "paperwork pregnancy" and I can see why. We are almost there which, by the way, is just as exciting and nerve-wrecking as preparing for birth. Our homestudy is finalized (yay!) and the only 2 things missing for our dossier are our family doctor's updated license (because his license expires before we travel, we have to get a copy of his renewed license, which he should have in the next week or so!) and our 171H, which is what you get back from sending in your I600A (basically the government's blessing). Oh, and we are waiting to hear back from our homestudy provider, as their office's notary expires in May 2010, which is not acceptable to our kid's country (it has to be good for at least 6 months after submission). This means they will need to re-notarize the copy for our dossier. I just looove all these little details!! But honestly that is not bad! Then all we have to do is mail off some more stuff for the apostille, and I'm happy to say our part of the paperwork is almost done. Whatever will I do with all my free time?? SERIOUS FUNDRAISING LOL ;)

One late, but very important, Christmas gift

It's something so simple, and yet for us, has taken so long. BUT, we finally have it...my mom's FBI clearance!! It came in the mail today! It took 4 tries, but they finally accepted her prints :) Now we can send them off and our homestudy can be finalized!!! This is definitely the best Christmas present, a little late, but I'm okay with that! So, we are really hoping to have our dossier ready for the kid's country for February. That of course will depend on how quickly our 1-600A gets processed, but we are praying for things to move smoothly and quickly. We just can't wait to get our babies home!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We haven't posted much because Christmas kind of snuck up on us this year. Sad, I know, but with all of the paper chasing, we just had trouble getting it all in. We did have a wonderful time with Pumpkin and with family - she was an absolute riot this year, she just looooves presents, or resents, as she says - but it just wasn't the same. Our family was incomplete and we all felt it. Three little people are missing from our lives! Hopefully, not for long though.

So, Christmas was wonderful and yet sad all at the same time. I found myself wandering through the pages of the waiting children section of Reece's Rainbow more than once. The faces kept me up at night. No matter how good these kids are, there are no presents under the tree on Christmas morning, there aren't mommies and daddies to snuggle up with, and there are no Christmas decorations. That is the sad reality of life for these children. And as uncomfortable as it may make us feel, as "un-Christmasy" as it maybe, we must remember them. Please, look at their faces, pray for them, pass on the message. And maybe, next year, some of these beautiful children won't be "waiting", they will be home.

Little Kiril

I just wanted to drop a quick note to anyone who hasn't heard about the fundraiser for little Kiril. I thought I'd just share what Christine is doing in her own words. Hopefully she won't mind :)

I’m holding a $1 challenge over at www.findingkirilsfamily.blogspot.com, on the countdown to Christmas. Kiril is a little boy with significant special needs who has been waiting on Reece’s Rainbow for a long time, and has been bedridden in an institution for over 6 months now. My goal is to get as many people as possible to donate just ONE dollar to Kiril’s RR grant, and then pass this message on to just ONE other person of their choice.