Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Smiles All Around

Now I know why people invest their hearts into this ministry. Remember my first post about RR? I posted about Lera... and she was adopted! And then my second post was about Aloyna and guess what? She has a family now! They are calling her Aly and you can find her adoptive family's blog (Thanks Renee for the link!) HERE!

Photos: Oldies but Goodies






These were taken when Anna was 11 months old. Let me tell you, it's hard to believe that she's already 3 and we're staring down the barrel of 4! I should probably chat about what's been happening around here. Next week Paul and I start classes. We were wanting to put Anna in Little Tumblers this spring, but surprise, surprise we wont' be able to pay for it on time and she won't be able to participate. :( However, I did find out that Pee-Wee soccer begins in March and we'll have the 54 dollars in time for that. So, not all is lost. I just wanted her to get into Little Tumblers and be a little daredevil in a safely padded arena. ;)

Angels: Corinna and Katie & a Little Rant


KATIE
This week's Angel of the Week is this precious little one, Katie! She has such a gorgeous smile, doesn't she? How she will thrive when she gets home with her forever family! Could you be her family?

CORINNA
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!
The thought of this little girl escaping death and then not being adopted? It's just unthinkable! I pray to God that someone steps forward and becomes her mommy or daddy! Please, Father God.

Sometimes the thought of these children... innocent and alone in the world... going to institutions and dying... being tied to their beds... It makes me want to run around screaming like a madwoman! It's so painful. It's heartbreaking and heart-wrenching. But I don't want to give up thinking about and praying for these little ones just because it scares me. It's a reality for these kids. It ought to be for us, too. I hope and pray that Human Rights Advocacy groups are making a fuss about this!

Angel: Berkeley




Berkeley (36)
Girl, Born October 22, 2003

SIGNIFICANT RISK, PLEASE ADOPT ME SOON!!

What a stunning, happy little girl! Berkeley has long blonde hair and beautiful brown eyes. She was born with clubbed feet, but is able to walk holding on to a fence or hands or the wall. She is very determined and tries to do everything on her own. Surgery and therapy could change this little girl's life!

Berkeley does have strabismus (crossed eye), her records indicate hydrocephaly, but she certainly seems to be doing fine and not showing any signs of cognitive difficulty from that. She also has hypoplasia of her right kidney.
Source Page: Reece's Rainbow

I love this little girl's smile and big blue eyes. It just tears my heart out at the thought of her being transferred to an institution just because she can't walk! I pray someone adopts her soon!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

I Need...

to write! It's been so long since I've written and I really miss it! I follow a writer (NY Times Best Selling to boot!) on Twitter who was kind enough to write me several times through Direct Messaging who told me to write each day. Even if it's just a paragraph. I think I'll take that advice. I'm going to start another blog connected with this sign in to share bits of what I write. It'll be password protected and I'll share that vaguely through here (such as: "It's my last name" or something like that). I need to get back on the saddle. I really love writing and it brings me so much joy and relaxation!

Something Happy: Snow Pics




I think I need to post something happy to combat the sadness of that last post. It's sad, but necessary, I guess. I should probably go to bed, too.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I switch between feeling really depressed about these kids and feeling hopeful for them. People are realizing this atrocity is going on and they're starting to do something... I hope! It's just heartbreaking and I tend to let things like this really REALLY get to me, especially now that I'm a mommy. Ugh.

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Preston's Prayer Button

I encourage everyone to choose a child from Reece's Rainbow to pray for. I want to help them ALL and take them ALL home, but I can't. So please consider this. If you blog, I don't mind helping you make a button. :)


Grab This Button

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!



I must be getting older because I'm ready for bed and I have no interest in staying up any later. Anna on the other hand... she could stay up for hours yet!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Angel: Preston


Preston (33)

BOY, born October 31, 2003

Preston is a darling little boy who was born with dwarfism/achondroplasia. He is very smart and very hopeful he will have a family of his own. Happy and active!

Contact Andrea directly for more information

Preston has $0 in his funds.





This little boy has stayed in my heart for a long time now. Isn't he a sweetheart? It breaks my heart to see so many children with $0 toward their adoption. Preston currently has no money towards his. Say a little prayer that he'll find his family. Meanwhile, I'll pray for him, too.

Source: Reece's Rainbow

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pics 12/28 and 12/29




Anna eating and grinning and in the last photo, she's loving on her new baby my mom brought her.

Snow Day!



It finally snowed! Not at home in Washington, though. We're still in Oregon, but I guess it was a good thing. We finally saw snow! Anna ran around saying, "I see snowflake!" We got dressed really fast and went outside to let her run around in the snow. She loved it. It didn't take long for it to turn to rain, though. Ironically enough, it began to snow harder once we were inside. Oh, well. Hopefully it's on the ground tomorrow so we can play in it. Anna has bathed and is in her jammies nice and cozy. :) Gosh, I love this girl! I love her so much!!! What did I do to deserve her? My beautiful girl.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas!



This morning, Anna woke me up talking about how Santa comes through the ceiling (her words, not mine) and has ponies (again, her words). I though it was so funny she was putting together such a complex little description about Santa Claus! A few weeks ago, she didn't know who Santa was, but she has been watching Christmas movies online... I've found a few great animated oldies but goodies online. She's so excited for Christmas! She keeps asking when we put a gift under the tree, "For me?" lol! It probably wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that I'm just as excited, if not more excited, as she is. I want to think about what she thinks of her gifts!

She has gotten a few gifts at from a family get-together... including roller skates... which she loves!

I'm fighting off a cold or something and I feel awful, but here are a couple of pics from before we left Washington for Oregon where we are currently visiting family. :)

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

An Estonian Christmas




A friend of mine, Triinu from Estonia, sent me some lovely Christmas candy called Kalev which is a mix of candies. There are dark chocolate covered wafers, dark chocolate covered raspberry candies, toffee, and lemon candies. They are very good! I wanted to share a bit of her letter to me in which she shared her Christmas traditions. I think you might find it interesting, as I did. :)

Excerpt:

Our family does not have any special "traditions". Usually we do the same as usual Estonian families. At first --> we have Christmas day on 24th - as I assume it is the same for you? In the morning we clean the rooms and make dinner. In the afternoon we spend mostly outside - if there is snow, then usually building snowmen and snow- lanterns. If there is no snow (it's very possible usually) then we just walk outside in the nature. In the evening we have our usual Christmas feast. The feast is outrageous. Sometimes we have 4 different kind of salads and dressings. It's usual to have potatoes, roasted meat (beef or pork) and sauerkraut (!). Sauerkraut is usually the thing which creates the "Christmassy feeling". After the big feast we rest a bit and then we have sauna. Sauna is soo good, especially when the weather is cold.

While we are in sauna - the Santa Clause comes (we call him Jõuluvana). He leaves the presents under the Christmas tree. When we come back from sauna - we are happy ;)

Later in the evening we drink sparkly wine or glogg and watch some old Christmas movies. So. That's it!

I hope you had fun reading my letter! I know I did while writing it!

With love,

Triinu

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Sleepy Girl!!!

(above) Anna with red-hot feverish cheeks last week.

Why yes, she is half monkey!

Anna and I went to sleep last night (albeit late!) at 12 and woke up around 10. Anna immediately fell back to sleep and slept until 2! Now she's been asleep (again) for a little more than an hour! I think she must be going through a growth spurt! She is well otherwise, just very tired!