Revelation 3:8 (New International Version)
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

The child is the beauty of God present in the world – that greatest gift to a family.” (Blessed Teresa of Calcutta)

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Let me introduce you to the 2 boys we are adopting.

Hi everyone, Ok so I have showed you the girls now let me introduce you to these two adorable orphans who do not know they have a family praying every day to bring them home. One day with a little more time, I will explain how it came about that we were to adopt 4. It is a truly amazing how it happened but until it is final we will not be able to say. This is for the safety and well being of the children waiting.

This is our adorable prince who we pray to bring home soon. He does not have down syndrome but he does have hydrocephalus and cerebral palsey. He is 4 and weighs 23 pounds. We do not know anything other then that but we do know he has not had any medical attention for his hydrocephalus.

Here is another adorable prince who for a very long time, caught our attention. There was something very special about this child that my husband and I could not explain. We waited and prayed for so long that a family would claim him as their child but no one ever did. This little boy was transferred to a different institution because he aged out of his baby house orphanage but from what we hear he is not progressing. He is 6 years old and scoots on his bottom unable to walk on his own. The pictures we see he seems to be holding on with one hand. He does have down syndrome and his seriousness reminds us of our Noah.

We received our I800a approval and our dossier is completed.

Hi Everyone, Thank you for praying for us. We received approval from our country to adopt from a Hague country and we have completed our dossier! On Tuesday it will travel to a friends house who will pack it away in her suitcase. This mom is adopting in the same country and she will hand it to our attorney. We will then wait for the date to travel. I can not tell you how confident I am that we were only able to complete this dossier because you were praying. As the last required document was obtained, I broke down and cried. Adoption is not new to us but these children are. I think that just like the birth of a child, each adoption is unique and special. We as a family pray and talk about the children. We grow to love them many months before we even physically meet them. Our children do not see my belly grow and don't get to feel the baby kicking but they look at their pictures and help us to prepare for their arrival. Come to our house and ask the kids who these children are....they will tell you that these are their brothers and sisters who are coming. Our kids will even tell you the names that they want. Our children are very much in tune with these children coming, getting the I-800a and dossier completed was a joyful day in our home. Thank you for praying, please continue.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

We are working very hard to bring them home.




This is our other princess that we are praying to come home. She is 15 years old (the picture in yellow clothes is recent).

Dear Everyone, Please be patient with my lack of blogging. We are working very hard at submitting and doing all the paperwork. Where are we now? Our homestudy is complete and we are assembling our dossier. We have also submitted our request to the USCIS. Please pray very hard because sometimes the paperwork and hoops seem endless. It is worth every penny and labor I know this with all my heart. I need to only look in my current children's eyes and see.
People ask "why do you do this?" some say "This is not your problem, let God take care of it." People this is our problem....God never intended the children to be unwanted and left alone because they could not fit into a persons life....because they don't talk, walk or look like that person. We must take care of those who cannot care for themselves. We must pray for those who are doing and come across obstacles. We must support those organizations that bring these orphans pictures to light such as Reeces Rainbow.
Please pray that every day, I am able to get at least one paper done for our dossier, please pray that I will have these childrens' medical doctors lined up for their care and a plan, as you know they are in starving mode and they will need medical attention as soon as they arrive. Please pray that all those involved with our process does not run into obstacles.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

We are expecting...via Adoption that is!! Yes!!






Here is our little princess. She is in Eastern Europe. She has been bedridden for 10 years. This is her Reeces Rainbow name Lilliana but we will need to agree on a name and so far we have rounded them down to 7 names.
Anyways, Liliiana is 11 years old and weighs only 10 pounds. Another mom adopting gave us the measurements and it was heartbreaking. Our home study is complete but we still have a lot to do. Today, was a big day since it is our first day on the commitment page of Reeces Rainbow.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

One year after our Adoption
























It has been one year since Ian Benjamin and Ellia have been adopted. They arrived to the US in October 2010. It has been 2 years since Nicholas Oksana and Noah have been home. They arrived Sept 11, 2009 a day that means so much to all of us and for the USA. I remember bringing Nicholas, Oksana and Noah through customs/immigration office at the airport. They had sent us to a big room where many people were waiting to be cleared before passing through customs. The officer there called each child by name. "Nicholas Josiah Brown?" yes I said, he is in this car seat. "Nicholas, congratulations you are now an American Citizen" he said with a smile as he stamped Nicholas' passport. He then called Oksana and Noah who were in a stroller and did the same thing. How special this was. How I will never forget the feeling of the entire experience to bring them home the work, the travel, the tears, the wait and now the final opening of the embassy files for each of our children who were once left in an orphanage and forgotten. I wish you could have been there as this officer's eyes gleamed with feelings, he took it very seriously to be able to look at these children one by one and say those words. What would these words mean? It meant new hopes and dreams, a new life of opportunities. A promise and an acceptance of a country to accept and believe that even a child with down syndrome or other disabilities make our nation a wonderful place. I believe just as many people have changed and helped our children reach new strides such as their doctors, teachers so have our children touched them and others every day. Our children and other children with disabilities remind all of us that human life is precious and that we should all realize how much joy we can get from helping each other succeed. Each one of us have abilities even our citizens with special needs to lift others from the down times in our lives. These down times can be due to physical, emotional or even spiritual ruts. Think of when you have walked in a store or hospital and seen someone struggling to walk...how did it make you feel? Didn't you for that 2 seconds feel a sudden standstill? I hope this all makes sense. Our children have been wonderful citizens and I know that given the right tools, and opportunities they will touch many lives. They did not know what the officer meant at that time, but I did and I am grateful for them.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

3 Months home now...






Winter wonderland!!







Christmas Day 2010: We had so much fun. The children stayed in PJ's all day. By the end of the day they were exhausted!!





Doctor visits: Emma goes to support her brothers and sisters.
She told them that she would hold their hand. You can see how thin Ian is. I hope a year from now we will see a big difference.


Bedtime stories.










At the museum we had each of the older kids pick a younger partner and that worked out wonderful. It allowed us to go around and spend time with each child without worry that the little ones were going to run off. The big kids for the most part agreed on who their smaller partner was going to be.





Family trip to the museum.



Emma waiting for the eye doctor.


Well, this blog has not been updated since we arrived and mostly because our days seemed to have flown by. I also loved our arrival home picture that I just could not give it up and lose it further down on my blog. LOL

Our past 3 months have been filled with enrolling Noah, Oksana and Nicholas in school, family trips to the museums and doctor appointments for our new little ones. We also had to catch up with eye and dental visits for the rest of the kids. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New years celebrations along with our big snow storm that made our farm a winter wonderland. So much that now looking back it seems as if it has been a year since I have written and updated.

Oksana is our 3 year old and I wanted to wait until I returned from Ukraine to send her to her special pre-K class so that I could meet with the teachers. Noah is 5 and he is also in Pre-K so he was returning again this year. Nicholas is 3 and 1/2 and he now attends school with wrap around services of PT OT 2 days a week. Last year Nicholas was so delayed that when we adopted him he was unable to roll over, sit up and even had a difficult time holding his head up. In august he was evaluated and said to be at a 12-month development level. That seemed amazing since that was exactly how long he had been in our family. It was as if he was born once he arrived in our family!!! If you remember we had met him in July/August in 2009 at the orphanage and he was 2 years 3 months weighing in at only 12 pounds!!
So once we had them 3 enrolled in going to school...we had to get the doctor visits started with Benjamin, Ian and Ellia. It has been 3 months and we have made lots of tracks seeing different specialties so as to make a plan of care for them (concerning medical). Overall the children are healthy but Ellia and Ian are very underweight and both will need their cleft palates repaired. We have also cleared Benjamin from any heart defect! We were told that he was originally diagnosed with a heart defect but nothing other then a PFO!! Yahoo. Ian's cleft palate that was repaired in Ukraine had come apart in 3 parts so the cleft palate team has said that his repair will be a little more difficult. What I thought was a loose tooth is actually hi upper jaw that is loose. He is a happy boy and eats by bringing food from the sides of his mouth. He loves pasta with meat sauce!! Ian is 5 but is weighed in at his firts doctor appointment as a 2 year old. Ellia is 3 and weighed as much as a 7 month old. Her cleft palate was not previously repaired so it will be straight forward. We have also found out that Ellia needs to be followed by nephrology for some mystery markings on her kidneys. Her kidney function tests are good now but her urine showing moderate amounts of protein and blood along with abnormal Ultra sound has her being followed by nephrology. We are hopeful and thankful that she is now able to at least be treated by a terrific medical team. Both children were also treated successfully for giardia upon their arrival. Many of these children in the orphanage hang on but it is just a matter of time before many of them pass away especially when they are transferred to an institution. Do we regret adopting these children because we have had to adjust our lives to meet their needs...No way! We have given them the basics of care and they have given us so much more. I hold these children and thank God so many times a day. I thank our Father for blessing me with these children. They have enriched our lives that you cannot imagine. Their smiles and joy fills the house. One year makes such a difference and I know that in one year I will look back and see so much progress in these children's lives. Enjoy the pictures from the past 3 months.