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.

Wonderful Shirt Fundraiser!

We've been so blessed that Shari Lafayette from Personalized Prints  has donated some AMAZING shirts for us to sell. 

 

To order yours simply PayPal your payment to unroerescare@yahoo.com and in the note section give me your size or sizes that you are ordering as well as your name and address.  Shirts are $15 each and include shipping.  The shirts will all come to me at once and I will ship them to you.   

 

Sizes Available are: 

Youth XSmall

Youth Small

Youth Medium

Youth Large

Youth XLarge

Adult Small

Adult Medium

Adult Large

Adult XLarge

Adult 2XLarge

Adult 3XLarge

Adult 4Xlarge

Adult 5XLarge

Adult 6XLarge

                                  

Giveaway Winners!!!

So sorry this is late!!!!! 

HERE ARE THE WINNERS!!!! 

Prize #1  winner is Jeffrey Musk

Prize #2  winner is Layna Halstead

Prize #3  winner is Rebecca Gentile

Prize #4  winner is Jeffrey Musk

Prize #5  winner is Katie Opitz

Prize #6  winner is Katie Beth

Prize #7  winner is Katie Opitz

Prize #8  winner is Katie Opitz

Prize #9  winner is Megan Stephans

Prize #10  winner is Christina Scott

I will be notifying all winners by the emails that I have for them as well.  Since I am late getting these posted, I am giving all winners until May 10th to get back to me with their addresses.  You can all go click HERE to see a reminder of what each of the prizes is.  :) 

Don't forget to look on the sidebar to see what other ways are listed that you can help bring the kids home.  Right now there is a link for an "Ipad Giveaway" and our Family Sponsorship Page.  We appreciate your help so very much!! 

That is what is going on here online and then I'm getting ready for a Yard Sale that will take place this Saturday here at home.  We've done so many auctions and such that we don't have a tremendous amount of stuff to sale, but every little bit helps! 

We had hoped to have our travel date by now, but we are waiting on one signature that we need to get that date.  We won't know anything now until after May 6th, because our children's country is having a holiday right now that has the government off until then.  Please pray that we get that signature quickly once they return and a quick travel date!!

THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!

The Questions with No Answers and Being Real

Ok, so it is the middle of the day and not when I usually blog.  I need to blog though bc what I'm thinking isn't something that can "come out" while I'm in there with my kids.  What I'm about to blog about isn't "fun" or what anyone wants to read about.  It isn't happy or what anyone wants to go share.  It isn't the "happy cheerleader" stuff that makes people want to come visit my blog or donate to our adoption to get my kids home and it isn't the kind of stuff that I usually blog about.  Its just what is clogging up my brain.  It probably won't come out in a logical way.  It probably won't be eloquent like so many blog and maybe not even coherent. 

This adoption is SO hard.  This adoption is SO different.  We love all three of these kids SO much.  We worry about all three of them SO much.  They all lived in an orphanage that they received very subpar care even for the worst of orphanage for years, but now things are improving and we are so thankful for that.  There is someone new in charge who is working hard to right the wrongs and for that we are so thankful.  That person can't fix it all at once, but she is trying hard and that is all anyone can do. 

Matthew is 9 and 18lbs though.  That is tiny!!  Matthew is contracted up horribly from laying there for years and starving for years and laying and laying and laying.

 

His physical condition kills me.  I could lay and cry in a fetal position over how fragile my baby boy is.  I fear each morning and email that says he didn't make it till we got there.  I cry as I type that.  I fear it so much.  I fear he will die alone. 

 

What is killing me today and a lot of days and has made me literally sick this week is what he must think. 

 

He was beat into a coma by his birthfather. . . Does he remember???  Was he abused all the time those first 4 1/2 years??  Was it rare or often??  Was it a drunken rage???  Does he remember being a little boy who could run around and play before that beating and now he has legs that won't straighten????  How scared is he right now?  Does he cringe as each adult approaches?  Does the crib feel a prison that keeps him from the freedom he had those first 4 1/2 years or does it actually feel safe after 4 1/2 years of abuse? 

 

These are the things that drive me nearly crazy today. . . I have no power to comfort him across that ocean.  I can't tell him that love and safety are just a short time away. 

 

How bad do the contractures hurt?  How much pain is he in? 

 

Sometimes I hope that the brain injury is enough that he doesn't remember the beating.  Does he remember the family?  Does he feel the abandonment? 

 

Oh God please just don't let him feel all the emotional pain and fear. 

 

Please God give us that signature soon!  Please God hold my baby boy until I can! 

 

Please God take these tears from me today and help me to put on the front of "Happy Mom" that my kids need here. 

 

So sorry to all of you who don't see "this side" often, but I have to put it somewhere today and this is where it has to go. . . Please pray for Matthew, the process, the signature, my tears to dry up. . .