This week's wonderful waiting kids

Remember JD????



WACAP thinks he has a family!!!! WHOO HOOO!! Do you remember his story? If not, go here and scroll down a bit to read his heartbreaking story. I pray that his family can move forward. Please continue to keep him and his new family in your prayers!

The other beautiful little girl that I featured last week, however, is still waiting.



Her chance to find a family is gone forever on February 14th!!!! Please help spread the word about her!!! You can read about her from last week as well, here .

The next few kids are on Asia's list. You can go here to find out about their WC program and email Marci for a password at marcisk@asiadopt.org

The first little one on their list is Samantha. Samantha is a gorgeous little 4 year old with limb differences. She looks like such a sweetie. She is described as loving to laugh and from her picture you can just tell that she is a happy child. This is what is written about her:

Samantha has limited motion in her lower limbs. She has been in rehabilitation training, but still has difficulty with her joints. She is now able to sit straight and grasp objects. She has a ready smile and has been in the mother's love program, getting affection and attention from her assigned "mother." At two years old she is now able to hold her own bottle to drink, speak simple sentences and play with toys. Her favorite toys are the electronic organ, as she likes to shake her head and move her body to the music. She is very active, loves laughing and gets along well with other children

The next little one is Nate. Nate is such a little pumpkin! He is 5 years old and has hip displasia. He is in a Half the Sky program and if you know anything at all about HTS, you know how great that is!! Here is his info:

Nate is living with a foster family now. He is attending the Half the Sky foundation's early childhood education intervention program. He studies hard and he can recognize shapes like circle, triangle and rectangle. He still needs some work on recognizing colors. He has pretty good rhythm, and he always dances and sings with the music. Nate can eat, wash his face, brush his teeth, and go potty on his own. With teacher's assistance he can use scissors to cut shapes. He knows what cups, spoons and towels are used for. He takes initiative to wipe the floor, wipe the table and fold the blankets. Even though he has a left hip problem and limps on his left side, he can still walk and get up and down stairs with no problem. Nate is a little shy. He has a big heart. He is loved by the teachers and other children in his class.

Next is Benji. Benji is an adorable 5 year old who has Limb differences of his hands and feet. In his info, it states that he wonders why his hands are different and tries to hide them. This just breaks my heart as I can remember my brother doing the same thing and I know Lizzie will more than likely begin to soon realize that her hands are different and wonder why. We will be there for her to reassure and answer her questions the best that we can. Benji, however, doesn't have a family to reassure him and answer his questions in a loving and compassionate way! Here is his info:

Benji has been living with a foster family since the age of four months and is thriving. He can walk, run, jump, stand on one foot and has good motor development. He is active and clever and fond of being praised. He likes to ask questions and often wants to know why his hands are different. He tries to hide them so as not to appear different from others. He loves to play with other kids, especially kick ball and is fond of music, singing and talking. He loves to be outside and is sometimes stubborn and even pouts to resist.

There is also John who is a very cute 10 year old and is healthy. He is described as having a good heart and CALM!!! Calm would be good around here!! LOL! Please take a look at him as well. Here is his info:

John, is almost 10 years old. He is a fourth grade student. He is healthy. He has a very good heart, is calm, optimistic, hard working, never gives up and is an energetic boy. His grades have been improving because he works hard on them. He is good at sports, especially running. He loves to draw and he has a good imagination.

There are a few other kids on their list who I have advocated for before. Please take a look at them as well. They are Sherman (very cute 5 year old with repaired CHD), Bailey (adorable 9 year old with a prosthetic on his left leg) and Lin (very sweet 6 year old who is deaf). Again you can go here to find out about their WC program and email Marci at marcisk@asiadopt.org to get a password to view their list.

I have to end with my 2 kids on Christian World Adoption's list who still wait and are just breaking my heart. Please view their info here as well as beautiful Abbey on Madison's list.

Please, once again, help to spread the word about these great kids and keep them in your prayers!!!

It's the little things...

Do you know what this is?



Yes, it is a very cute Dora plate but to me it is so much more! Sweet little Lizzie asked, yes asked, for pancakes with syrup this morning. After catching my breath and doing my best impression of Wonder Woman by flying to the fridge and making those pancakes as fast as my loving Mommie hands would go (picture Flash on steroids), Lizzie had that plate of pancakes in front of her faster than she could change that determined mind of hers! As I tried desperately to watch every bite without Lizzie knowing that I was watching, I knew not to get my hopes up and to stay calm and not make a big deal about her lack of eating - again!! However, this morning, this glorious morning, Lizzie ate her pancakes! She ate ALL her pancakes - in less than 5 minutes, not the one hour that it normally takes her to eat 4 measly, mommie prodded bites!!! As I sat there completely stunned, trying to compose myself and suppressing the urge to scoop her up in my arms and do the happy dance, Lizzie quietly said, "Look Mommie, I eat all my bwekfas! I a big girl now!" OK, all composure lost and I am scooping and dancing:) Just perfect for my sensory girl!!



Little did we know that when we brought Lizzie home, with all of her so called "special needs," that we wouldn't be dealing with them nearly as much
as we would be dealing the effect of living the first 2 years of her life in an orphanage with nothing but boiling hot formula in a bottle with a HUGE hole in the nipple (to allow for quick drinking)



and congee (comparable to southern grits or oatmeal but still food that doesn't need to be chewed). Hello, she is 2!! She needs to use her teeth!! Sigh! Oh the things we take for granted and don't even think about until we love someone who has been deprived of them! I know I have talked about her lingering "orphanage issues" and her sensory issues before (sometimes it is very hard to tell where one ends and the other begins), but honestly we do deal with them usually every day in some version or another and at some level of intensity or another, but every day. I do expect most of them to continue to fade away after a certain amount of time or at least continue to lesson in intensity, but the truth is, we may be dealing with some of them forever, but hey, don't we all have issues that we deal with daily - orphanage or not? From her tantrums to her eating issues, our little Lizzie can be a handful but at the end of the day (each and every day), I thank God for my wondrously amazing little girl who enriches our lives beyond words. So this morning, another baby step, among so many baby steps, and we will celebrate them all because she is our beautiful little Lizzie!

Fixed Feet!

We saw Lizzie's wonderful clubfoot doctor today. She said that Lizzie's foot looked beautiful! Of course!! She wants to continue to see her every 6 months because and I quote, "she has been through so much that I want to stay on top of things to make sure we don't miss the signs of a relapse." Amen and thank you!! She wants to get at the very least another year of brace wear but optimally, 2 more years. No prob! If Lizzie even starts to fuss about putting that brace on at night, the mere mention of having to recast is enough to get 2 very cute little feet in that brace in no time flat!! Lizzie had 18 (yes 18) clubfoot casts and it was, at times, very difficult. While she never, ever complained about those casts (even in the middle of our southern summer), it was hard on her and her skin suffered. Oh how it suffered. There were times that I honestly did not know if the skin on her leg would ever recover, but it did and we forged ahead. My brave, determined little one was even walking in 2 casts at one point! I was very glad to hear how well her beautiful little foot is doing and I am eternally grateful to my bloggy friend, Stefanie, over at Ni Hao Y'all for enlightening me on the Ponseti method for clubfoot casting. I am hopeful that the road we chose for Lizzie and her treatment will help her to be pain free, hopefully, for the rest of her life. Thanks Stefanie!! To read all about Lizzie's clubfoot treatment, you can go to her website here .

I love feet pics and couldn't resist this one. You can see how much smaller Lizzie's foot is compared to Em's. No worries, good things come in small packages right? More to come on that statement later!!



Oh and please excuse the peeling polish on Em's feet!! Thanks a lot JuJu!!! Hehe!!

My Heros!!!

Well maybe!! Hehe!!

Sunday Snapshot

So I left off with the boys and promised to start with the girls the next week, well that was before Christmas!!! OOPS!!! Anyway, I am finally back and if you want to join in, just click here:



I want to start with:



How do I even begin to describe this child. She is our first daughter, after 3 sons, a pleasant surprise in more ways than one!! Hehe!! During my pregnancy with her and because I was of, ahem, "Advanced Maternal Age" (old), the docs recommended an amniocentesis and of course the results were that she was healthy and that she was definitely a she . We were shocked, happy and surprised!! Even the boys wanted a sister because, "little brothers are just too tough!" Come to find out that little sisters are even tougher!! Hehe!! Now amnio results are 99.9999999% (or something crazy like that) correct, but I honestly did not believe that she was a she until she was born and I could check for certain missing parts! If ya know what I mean! Well, she was definitely a she



and she has continued to shock and surprise us and make us very happy!!

From a very young age, Em had this way about her!


I think it was gas!!! LOL!!

When she was 5 days old, she rolled over for the first time and we knew we were in trouble!! She is, very simply, the female version of our Charlie!


Yep, trouble!!!

She has had us all wrapped around her cute little finger since the beginning:




Notice the tears!!



Em is our spunky, sweet, sometimes bossy but always loving little girl. She can already give her Momma attitude,



but is so cute doing it,



and she can't stay mad for long!!



Em has always loved her brothers and wants to be just like them when she grows up.



As a matter of fact, she always tells me that when she is big and is a boy, she will get to do everything her brothers do, like football!!


I think she knows now that she can be a girl and play football!! Whew!!

Em also just LOVES being a big sister. She and Lizzie have become so incredibly close. They can fight like crazy and there are some days that I swear that "time out" step will forever have the indentations of two very cute but very naughty little girl bottoms!! Those days, though, are overshadowed by the "I love you little sister," and the "I love you too big sister," and the fact that neither one of these girls may have had a sister, may have never had each other and that would have been tragic!!



Em is big and tough but she also relies on Lizzie for comfort and support, as Lizzie relies on her.




They are sisters and they have a very special bond and it has been a beautiful thing to watch!



So my sweet Em! You are the perfect combination of girly girl,



and tomboy,


Her big boy pants!!

You make us laugh constantly,



and you take our breath away - constantly,



Em is our ballerina, football player and mommie in training all rolled up into one cute little package, who, btw, is going to be a doctor (a baby doctor) when she grows up!!



I love you baby girl!



You make me smile!!!





Gotta end with Hubby's all time fav video of Em. He liked it so much, he used it as the ring tone on his phone!! He is laughing every time I call him!! Hehe!!

This Week's Wonderful Waiting Kids!

I have to start once again with those 2 precious souls on Christian World Adoption's list. The adorable little boy's number is c0907-36 and the beautiful little girl's number is c0907-25. You can go here to email and ask for a password. Please, please help them find their families. Their time is up at the end of the month and they are just so beautiful and really have such manageable special needs.

The wonderful young girl from Madison's list is also still waiting (I believe). You have just got to join that group and ask to see her videos. That last video will just break your heart. I know it did mine. You can look back at my blog from last week here to read more about Abby and the first 2 children from CWA.

I also want to feature a couple of kids from BAAS or Bay Area Adoption Services. The first little boy is Chris and he is just the cutest little boy!! He has a smile that will melt you and the most adorable dimples! In every single one of his pics, he has got this gorgeous grin on his face!! He is going to be a charmer! He's birthdate is June of 06 and this is what was written about him:

Updated information on Chris (10-14-2009)

Chris’s current measurement is the following:

Head size: 47cm, chest size: 56cm, height 91cm, number of teeth: 20, weight: 12kg. Because he has cast on his feet, we cannot measure the length of his feet.

He had surgery in March of 2009 for dislocated hip. Chris has lively personalities. He is actually very active. But because of his dislocated hip, during the time he is receiving treatment, the doctors requested that he lie in bed most of the time. This is hard to do, because he often pull himself up to a standing position. Because of this, the “Kay” (?) needles implanted to secure the hip joint moved the position. On August 27th of 2009, the doctors removed the two “Kay needles” (?) from the left hip joint under general anesthesia. He recovered well after the surgery.

On September 29th of 2009, in order to correct the deformity of his feet, he started to the casting boots on both feet. This method was passed on to the surgeons from doctors in Sweden who specialize in treating club feet. This project is called Healthy Feet and the name of the treatment is called “Ponsetti” treatment. The actual treatment involves providing casting boots once every half month according to the condition of the children’s club feet, in order to slowly correct the bones of the feet in accordance with the development of the whole body.

Chris has started to talk. He is very motivated to learn. If you teach him one sentence, he will repeat after you. He is very curious. He loves to study all the new toys. He knows the names of the caregivers and other children. He is very sensible. He feeds himself well and is not a messy eater. Right now because his movement is limited, his language development is effected by his environment. According to his age, he should have been to the pre-school and he could have been living with children somewhat older. But children in that living quarter all can walk and if he lives with them, he cannot take care of himself. But if he lives with them, his language development will be very fast because all of the children their speak well. The living area he is in right now has children under two years old, the language environment is therefore limited.

They are even treating his clubfeet with the Ponseti Method!!!! If at all possible, this is the way to go for clubfeet and the route we went with Lizzie! Amazing!! Go here to join the group and ask to view their list of kids!

The next little one is also on their list. Her name is Mae and she is 4 years old and is another little cutie pie with a beautiful smile! She cannot walk yet but I have to think that with the right medical treatment, she might be able to finally walk and how great would that be?? These incredible kids just blow me away with their determination and the lack of "can't" in their vocabulary!! This is what is written about sweet Mae:

Mae, a girl born on 6-28-05, club feet

Updated information on Mae (10-13-09)

Mae has lively and outgoing personalities. She likes to communicate with the grown-ups. She always asks a lot of questions. Her expressive language abilities have improved greatly. She likes to watch T.V. and she likes to read picture books. She likes to eat all kinds of food, vegetable and fruit. She is tidy and clean. She is polite and gets along well with her friends. she cannot stand up because her legs do not have much strength and she moves only sitting down using her hands. The X-ray test showed that she has abnormal development of her pelves and feet, and has deformity of hip and feet as well as atrophy of leg muscles

I have to end with 2 URGENT cases. The first is a lovely young girl who ages out in FEBRUARY!!!! I posted about her a few weeks ago and she is still waiting. Her time is runnning out. She is with WACAP and this is her info:

URGENT
EXTREME EMERGENCY ADOPTION GIRL AGING OUT FROM ASIA
There are only a 2 weeks left to find this girl a family before she ages out. She will no longer be eligible for adoption once she turns 14 on February 14th. $9000 Grant

….only families with a dossier already logged in with an approved I-600 (not I-800) can adopt her. Please contact us immediately! 206-575-4550.
Are you approved for 2 children? Are you approved for an older child with special needs? Could you stay longer in country due to the holiday schedules? Do you have a cooperative UCIS office?



MUST BE ADOPTED BEFORE FEBRUARY 14, 2010
X.L is an almost 14 year old girl in an age appropriate grade in school where her favorite subjects are singing and Chinese. She wants to be a philosopher when she grows up. When asked whether it is best to be a boy or a girl, she said it’s better to be a boy because boys are tough. She says she has many friends. When asked how she reacts when she is mad at someone, she says she ignores them. When asked about parents, she said she knows about mothers and fathers but doesn’t know what they do.
We were advised that she has “fragile bones”; that both her femurs had broken, but in 2005 she had surgery where rods were put into both her legs. Since then she has not had further breaks. Due to this condition she is extremely short for a 13 year old.
She has a low voice and speaks some English.
There are up to $9000 in grants to help a family who makes less than $125,000/year (you may subtract $3700 per child in your home) adopt her.16758
WACAP (www.wacap.org) is a non-profit adoption agency. Contact FamilyFinders@wacap.org 1-206-575-4550

This next child will just break your heart. I am just going to post his story and his picture because his story tells it all. Please, please help this young man!! He is with WACAP as well:

JD came to the orphanage in four years ago when he was 9 years old, crawling on his \knees because his feet were deformed. Up to that point, he had survived by dragging himself along the side of the road selling newspapers and hiding his earnings in the bushes. At the orphanage, JD's feet were amputated and he was fitted with prosthetics. Today, he proudly stands and walks quite normally. But a profound piece of his life is still missing.



When we met with him, JD was so nervous he was shaking. His caretakers told us he'd had blinding headaches for days because he was so worried about meeting us. When I asked him why he was nervous, he said simply: "Because you're my last chance for a family."

JD is a 13-year old boy with a very sad history, whose time is running out. If he's not adopted before he is 14 he will be ineligible for international adoption, and never have the family he so desperately wants. He can't remember ever living with a family but does remember years of living on his own on the streets. He remembers surviving by crawling along the road selling newspapers and hiding his earnings in the bushes.

His hands appear somewhat different but he can do everything he needs to with them. He is able to write, feed himself and take care of his bodily needs.

Because he began school so late and has been hospitalized for surgeries, he attends classes in the orphanage where he is said to be good learner who works very hard at his studies. As he left, he looked at us pleadingly saying, "I wish I could have a family." We want his wishes to come true his id is JD.1096.16763.01 and we will be happy to share his information with you.

There is a $4000 Promise Child grant for eligible families for this adoption and a possible additional fee reduction. Please contact us at FamilyFinders@wacap.org or 206-575-4550 WACAP(www.wacap.org) is a non-profit adoption agency.

Please spread the word and help these precious children!!

SHHHHHH!!!

I guess the girls got tired of me shushing them at their brother's awards ceremony! This is how they solved the very tempting talking dilemma!! Hehe!!




Sorry for the quality of the pics! Of course I did not have my camera and was forced to use the ole cell phone!! Isn't that awful? Here I am at my first son's awards ceremony and I don't even bring my camera!! Jeez!! By the time the girls are old enough to have awards ceremonies, they'll be lucky if Mom even gets out of bed!! I mean it was at 7:50 in the morning!!! Hehe!!