ADOPTION VIDEO

Would you all like to see our ADOPTION VIDEO?  My wonderfully amazing friend Colleen put it together for us.  I am so unskilled at computer stuff that it is pitiful!  She did an amazing job though!  She is just starting her own amazing adoption journey to her son that she met while on my adoption trip and you can follow along with her HERE. 

Here is Our Adoption Journey to Matthew, Johnathan, and Charity 

Article 5! and GIVEAWAY UPDATE

Our Article 5 Interview occurred and our attorney is getting everything ready to submit.  We are praying that they will honor Matthew's medical expedite and process the paperwork quickly for a signature at the government level to get it ready for submission to court.  We need to get him home and get him some much needed medical care.  We are praying hard and we ask that you would too!

We have the Have a Heart Giveaway going on right now to thank everyone who is helping us so wonderfully with raising the last of the funds to get the kids home.  We appreciate the help so very much!  Aleshia's heart surgery is really at the worst possible time, because it is just before we will need to travel to pick them up.  It is still much better than it needing to be done after they get home though!  God has provided wonderfully for us all along and we know that everything will fall into place.  This is just a wonderful opportunity for others to get to be a part of their homecoming story!

You can click here to see all the wonderful "Thank You" Gifts that are awaiting at the end! 

Not listed on that post is $5 donations!  Every $5 donation will also receive one entry, so please email me your receipt to abcunroe@yahoo.com  Every amount is bringing us so much closer to bringing them home!!  THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!!


Every dollar brings us closer to the goal amount of bringing them home!  I'm sure this post will make the "troll roll".  lol  Yes, there are the wonderful trolls who go around talking about how much better off kids are in orphanages.  I've even heard that our family is large and that the caregiver ratio might be better in an orphanage. See, the thing is that "caregivers" don't "care" the same as a Mommy.  I go to bed each night begging God to keep them safe till I can get there and knowing that Matthew is in misery without medical care.  I'm a Mommy.  I hurt for my kids.  I don't leave them lay ever.  I don't have apathy or think that any of them are not worth my time.  I feel what they feel.  I hurt when they hurt, even if they are on the other side of the ocean.  I sit up all night if they are awake.  I stay up too late and get too little sleep just because a little one decides that they aren't sleepy and I know that they spent too many years in a crib and I'm VERY glad for the opportunity to give them those extra kisses.  So I'm going to leave those trolls he may link back to my "fundraising" post with a little picture. 

This is what the love of a "Mommy" does:

 

We are working hard to bring Matthew, Johnathan, and Charity home so that they can have a "Mommy" instead of a "caregiver" too.  Every child deserves a "FAMILY", not just a caregiver.  We just happen to have more people here to do the loving.  Yes, the sites that like to bash large families can bash away.  The fact is that the picture above shows the truth.  The child on the left was Keith the night I brought him home at age 5 and the picture on the left was Keith one year later at age 6.  He went from couldn't hold his head up, to didn't want to be laid back!  He grew when he was loved and cared for by a FAMILY!  He came from the same place that my three children are now and they need to come home.  The place they are in now is trying hard, but orphanages cannot replace families.  They suffered severe neglect in that facility for years and the only way they are going to heal and thrive is to come home.  So the trolls can troll away.  There is the proof that what we do is making a HUGE difference and will continue to do so. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOW WHO WANTS TO BE A PART!?!  

Trip to Meet the Three: Part 1 An Unexpected Meeting

My friend Colleen came in from out of state to go with me on the trip and for that I am so thankful!  (A little later you will hear more about Colleen and what God had in store for her during this trip, but that will be a post entirely of its own, but rest assured that we serve a very big God!!)  When we went to meet my next three kids I was pleasantly surprised by the changes in their orphanage.  They are in the same place that Keith came from.  That place was so devoid of sound or movement for so long.  The children had been neglected and starved.  Keith spent over 5 years there and 2 1/2 years of that were in an isolation room.  Knowing my three children were there was so hard and I knew that a new director had taken over so I had continued to pray that the good things I had heard were happening were true.  I prayed that they were feeling those good changes make changes in their lives that were tangible. 

It was obvious upon arriving that good changes had taken place.  There were Babas (the word for grandmother and these are people who are employed by ministries to come in and are assigned to a couple children each) out and about with children in strollers that were on the road and visible before we even arrived at the orphanage.  You could see and hear children.  We began to see children who we "knew".  I knew them from pictures because they too are being adopted.  They were not the tiny and starving children that they once were, but are now beginning to grow.  Please understand that these are children still in SERIOUS need, but it is because of the YEARS of lack of care.  The adoptable children need families quickly so that they can get individual care and attention only available in families where you have parents (and siblings!) who love and care for you individually.  She can't change the fact that they were left in their beds for years, teeth rotted out, they aren't even half the size they should be, bones grew the wrong way, muscles atrophied, and children were left to lay so long that they developed rocking and stopped developing.  She HAS however come in and changed their nutrition and started to get them out of their beds more.  The changes are evident and much appreciated.  They are a definite testament to the work of the new director!  Please continue to pray for her, because the needs of those children are so great and she has a HUGE undertaking still ahead of her to help them heal. 

The heaviness of the place is gone and it smells and appears clean.  We waited in the front lobby area for our chance to go meet my babies.  I was so thankful to have my friend Colleen with me.  The excitement of the morning had me completely on edge.  I had woke up WAY before the alarm and was showered and dressed before poor Colleen had gotten up.  She had to have thought me insane, since I am NOT an early morning person!  I couldn't wait to get there and now here I was so close, but still WAITING!!! 

As we waited there with kids going by, some we recognized and some that we did not, I just couldn't help but wondering which child would be brought to us first once we were taken to the meeting room.  I kept hoping that the time would come soon to go there!  THEN THERE HE WAS!!!  JOHNATHAN WAS STANDING RIGHT THERE!!!  He was on his way outside with his Baba and MY SON was standing right there.  I had no way to communicate because my interpreter was arranging things in the office.  I had to approach though!!!  Who waits so many months and can wait longer with their child right in front of them????

So for a split second there he was,    Johnathan. . . my son. . . in the lobby. . .

 

I can't get the video to share, so you just get "still shots" from the video.  So thankful that Colleen was quick even when we weren't expecting it.  More to come! 

 

Please help us get them home!  Lots of opportunities to help!  Links for fundraisers are on the top right side of the blog!  

Trying to Get a Photo of the Five Together LOL!!!

Well I wanted a picture of the five together on their one year home anniversary.  I got them all on the couch and all I could do was laugh.  Keith is in CONSTANT motion.  It was just funny.  I decided to just take a whole bunch of pictures and share them all!  Then you would all get the best idea of who they all really are.  You can see how grown up Ahnja is.  You can see how much Keith moves.  You can see how funny Aleshia thinks Keith is.  You can see how annoyed Anita is at them both and how funny Nicholas is while he watches. 

Here we go!

 

YES THAT ABOUT SAYS IT ALL! 

AREN'T THEY GREAT!?!

 

If you'd like to help bring home our next three, there are links on the right side of our blog to ways you can help!

One Year Update on All Five!

So here are some updates on all 5 of the kids who've been home a full year!  The updated pictures were taken on July 22nd which was their 1 year home day!  I took the pictures myself so they aren't "great", but you should get a pretty good idea!

So here is Ahnja's 1 year home side by side!

 

Here is Nicholas's 1 year home side by side!

Here is Anita's 1 year home side by side!

Here is Aleshia's 1 year home side by side!

 

Once again here is Keith's 1 year home side by side!



As far as other updates on them, here we go:

Ahnja is 11 now and doing amazing.  She has learned English so quickly and still speaks a lot of Bulgarian too.  She understands all everyday English that is spoken to her and her grammar is getting better all the time.  We actually all speak some simple Bulgarian around the house (very simple because we just aren't that great, but we enjoy the words we've been able to pick up!).  She has learned to write the alphabet and can tell you many of the phonetical sounds.  She can write most of the names of family members (no small task around here!).  She recognizes quite a few words as well!  She is SO amazing.  She has a sparkle about her that captivates everyone she meets!

Nicholas is 10 1/2 now.  He is much more delayed and still very traumatized from his time in the mental institution there.  Going into a hospital environment or even a large brick building that isn't but reminds him of his institution will leave him in complete fear.  His institutional behaviors have reduced dramatically, but he still has a long ways to go to heal from all he went through.  He reminds us so much of Mowgli on The Jungle Book.  He just wasn't socialized.  On top of that he just suffered a lot of stuff that most people will never understand in that institution.  It was a "survival of the fittest" kind of environment.  He isn't at all aggressive though and he can be quite cuddly.  He has learned to eat with utensils and to slow down for the most part though and has come SO far!

Anita. . . oh Anita.  lol  She is 8 now and quite the stubborn child.  If you look at her picture above the first thing you will notice is that she learned how to smile.  At first she just didn't know how.  Somehow or another her initial response was what you see on the left. . . no one else I know can duplicate that face, but it was her "smile".  She did it every time you got out the camera.  She's come so far and is saying words and phrases in English.  She spoke nothing in Bulgarian, so this is HUGE!  She is partially potty trained already and really just needs to learn to go on her own instead of waiting to be sent.  She's able to put together puzzles and is working on preschool/kindergarten concepts in English. 

Aleshia is 7 now and is our most delayed and physically handicapped child.  It is believed that she did not get enough oxygen during her heart procedure that she had prior to coming to us.  She can sit up for short periods of time, but it is very tiring for her.  We hope that her upcoming heart surgery will give her more energy and strength.  She can push to a stand in her stander or in her jumperoo, but she does not walk or really sit unassisted for any real length of time.  She has said a few words though!  We will learn more about the extent of her brain damage the day before her heart surgery.  She has become SO much more interactive though in the last year.  She laughs and interjects her personality into every day family life and we LOVE it!

Keith, well you can read about him in the last post!  lol  He is doing AMAZING!  He is cruising the furniture and into all kinds of mischief!  We figure after 5 years in that crib, he has a lot of mischief to make up for! 

If you'd like to help bring our next 3 children home, so that they too can make amazing progress in the love of a family, then there are many ways you can help us to bring them home. 

We have an Indiegogo fundraiser that a friend set up for us HERE that has a place to donate and even some things offered for your donation!

You can shop at our Usborne eshow by clicking HERE and get some amazing books for your family while helping our kids coming home! 

You can shop at our What's in the Bible link and buy amazing dvds to teach your family about the Bible and help with our adoption at the same time as well.  These are made by the creator of Veggie Tales and are so much fun, but even adults will learn something!  Click HERE to go shop our site for that! 

Our Tshirt Fundraiser ends on August 3rd at midnight, so you can click HERE to learn more about the amazing shirt we have available! 

Thanks for all your help!!!  More pictures of the 5 to come in the next post and then I'll get to pictures of the newest three from my trip to meet them!



So much to UPDATE and so little TIME

So much has been going on here.  I have been on trip #1.  Those of you who follow the Facebook page know that, because it is SO much easier to post a quick update on there than it is to write a blog post.  I am going to try to do an update on that soon.  It is also just past the one year anniversary of the 5 kids coming home.  I need to do a full update on that too!! 

So much to do and so little time.  Aleshia is due to have her open heart surgery on August 15th.  She will have neurological testing on August 14th to see how much brain damage really occurred during the one that she had done before we adopted her and brought her to the US.  She was going to have it done sooner, but there were insurance issues to clear up and things that had to occur.  So things are SO busy.

Today I want to give you a little update on the 5 that already came home.  Here is Keith's one year home side by side comparison! 

THIS HE'S GROWN MUCH!!!????!!!!

He went from wearing size 3 to 6 months clothes to 36 inches tall and wearing 3T size clothes!
He went from less than 12lbs to weighing 32lbs!
He went from not being able to hold his head up to cruising the furniture!
HE IS AMAZING!!!! 

We have lots of fundraising going on to get to our other three kids.  I will post more about that later and you hurry and get to the post just below this before Saturday, August 3rd is over then you can still order those amazing shirts!  I will be closing that up and turning in those orders after that date. 

You can also shop on my Usborne page to support our adoption by clicking HERE. 

You can shop for great dvds and help your family learn more at the Bible while supporting our adoption HERE. 

We also have a fundraiser running on Indiegogo right now where you can help us raise the funds needed for the pickup trip for the kids.  Click HERE to go there.  You can read more about each of the three kids there.  I will update on my trip to meet them here very soon!  I just have to catch my breath and have a moment to spare.  I just finished up an auction of Facebook and have a ton of stuff to mail out.  Not to mention that little boy you see above is ALWAYS ON THE MOVE!!  Believe me though, I'm not complaining.  I'd give anything if Matthew, Johnathan, and Charity were here and into everything instead of stuck in cribs across the ocean!  Please please pray for them while they wait.  Please especially pray for Matthew.  Leaving him was the hardest thing I've ever had to do and he is in need of coming home SO very badly.

Keith Update

Ok, trying to get updates in before more paperwork starts.  lol  The dossier is there and translated which means I breathe a sigh of relief and wait for the next paperwork to begin.  In the meantime I want to show you some amazing pictures of the kids.  I'm unsure as to why I can't get videos to load on here.  :(  I can upload a whole bunch of pictures though!  :)

Remember Keith?



 

First off, you need to know that Keith isn't a little baby any more.

He weighs 29.4 pounds and is sleeping in the bottom bunk.

This picture was from his first time trying it out and Dayton was sitting in it with him

just to make sure he was ok withit, but he's a big boy and he thought it was GREAT!



He's a big boy who likes to sit on the trampoline while his big brother bounces too!

(I wish you could see him laughing, but the pictures are just a blur so we had to settle for the "after")

His big sister Julianne taught him how to sit like a big boy in the doctor's office!

 Thankfully they both have cute hands.

The prefer to look at those cute hands over the books or toys that I would bring!

If my hands were that cute, I'd do the same thing though I guess!

He had a check up on World Down Syndrome Day (March 21st!),

so he wore his "Chromosomally Enhanced" shirt!

He made the shirt look REALLY good!

He knew it too!

He got a hair cut just before Easter.

He does NOT like his hair cut,

so when we cut it we do it pretty short so we don't have to do it again for a while!

Keith wore many size 3 to 6 size month outfits

and a few size 6 to 9 month outfits

when I picked him up in July '12.

He turned 6 April 1st!

He went to the store with me to buy size 3T jeans

which fit him WELL!

Got some Elmo balloons while we were there.

We had a huge Elmo glow party, but the pictures aren't on the computer yet.

 

I'm hoping to travel in May back to where Keith came from to visit Matthew, Johnathan, and Charity for the first time.  You can go read more about them HERE .  That will be trip #1 and then a few months later I will travel back to get them and bring the home where they too can learn about love and family.  They too will have the chance to grow and thrive. You can click HERE to go to see the giveaway we have going on right now and be a part of the people that God is using to bring them home.  We have some great dvds, books, and a $100 giftcard up for grabs, plus you can be a part of the Mulligan Stew too!

Dossier will head over soon!

Yes, we have been working hard to get things ready to send over.  Because of our large family size there are always extra hoops to jump through.  We understand and expect them at this point.  So we had to jump through some extra hoops and we have jumped through them successfully.  Right now most of our dossier is already in the country that our children are in.  A few of the last documents will leave as soon as we can send them. The copy of our USCIS approval is on its way to our state's capital to get apostilled right now, so as soon as that comes back, then the last of it will be on its way!

Please pray that things move quickly.  We need to get these kids home quickly.  Matthew especially is in very bad shape.  He is 9 years old and only 18lbs.  He is atrophied badly and his contractures are severe.  He has to be in pain and they have no way to get him the treatment and care he needs. 

Aleshia (just came home in July) will be having her heart repaired June 6th tentatively, so we were really hoping to manage trip #1 before that surgery. . . PRAY!

We've been busy hurrying with paperwork, fundraising, and daily life.  I haven't gotten the full updates on the kids, but I thought this would give you an idea as to an update on how well the kids are doing!  This was done in February!!  That is Keith with the same brother (who is typically growing) the day after he came home and then 6 1/2 months later!!!  Keith is in Mega growth and is in Mega development.  He is taking steps and cruising the furniture.  He is CLIMBING TOO! lol

 

We can't wait to see the next three home and thriving. 

 

We are updating Facebook much more often and have fundraisers running on there much of the time.  You can visit us on Facebook at:  http://www.facebook.com/#!/ThreeMoreForTheUnroesChristmasAuction  (I started a "Christmas Auction" and it has so many likes that it won't let me change its name!  I guess we'll just keep remembering that by next Christmas they will be home!)

 

I will be putting up some special incentives there and I'll put them here soon, because the Mulligan Stew has started back up and they are graciously helping us again!!!  We'll have some cool stuff going on here too soon!!  Right now I have two children who have doctor's appointments, so stay tuned!