Mr. Smarty Pants

Eli is doing so well.  Almost ridiculous.  I know some kids come home and struggle and that is the NORM.  Sometimes i worry that people reading our story think all kids come home and everything is peachy keen.  Course, Eli has only been home for a little over a month...so we will see what the next weeks and months bring.  But i do want to say, for anyone reading this with kiddos that are newly home and may be struggling, it is NORMAL for kiddos to have trouble adjusting.  Think about all the changes they are going through!!!


Anyway, Eli loves food!  He takes me to the fruit bowl first thing every morning and requests a banana or an apple.  Banana's were a treat in the orphanage i think.  His eyes light up everytime i mention a banana!  Sweet boy :)

Other kiddos are doing so well!!!!  Thomas has struggled with handwriting for a long time.  Jared and i were commenting tonight that he is writing his name now without any struggle and all the letters are written correctly!!!  He can and does write other things obviously, but his name has been something we have been working on for a LONG time!  This mama is HAPPY!!!!

Both Thomas and Gwen and taking a homeschool dance class.  it is hillarious to watch them prance and twirl!!!!
Thomas is also doing basketball and gwen is a cheerleader...snort.  I tried to convince her to do basketball too but she was adament she would be a cheerleader!!!

Luci has started talking more and more.  She is a mini-gwen.  She is speaking is sentences more now.  I was talking to my mom today and she said "nanny talk me, lo, lo, lo".  It was HILLARIOUS!!!!

heartbroken

I am heartbroken tonight.  A new little one was listed on the site where we found our little Eli.  She is 6.  She weighs 10 pounds.  Please re-read that sentence.  That is not a typo.  Thomas weighed 10 pounds at 2-3 WEEKS old.  This little one is 6 YEARS old.  I can't even...i can't even imagine the horror she lives in.  My heart is seriously broken for her.  She will be listed for 2 months. 

PLEASE someone come foward for her.  I don't know how she has lived this long honestly.  I don't know how much longer she can live this way.  Eli and the other children in his orphanage were SO well cared for.  There were plenty of toys and there was food for everyone and it was a nice place.  Still and orphanage of course, but a nice place.

This, this is inhumane.   I can't even fathom seeing a little one in this shape and thinking it is ok.  It's so out of my realm of normal. 


Please look at this picture, this is NOT A BABY!!!  She is older than both Eli and Gwen. 



The other reason i am heartbroken tonight?  Hearing from a friend that an orphanage in another country has had their heater break.  They can get NO money from their government until next year.  The heater is running in a VERY small generator right now but it will not last long.  If the generator fails, then the pipes will freeze.  So the children will have no HEAT and no WATER. 

These are the left behind children.  The ones who were not adopted.  The ones who are too old to be adopted.  A few children there will be adopted at some point, but realistically, how many of them will survive a winter with below zero temps everyday and no heat?  Please help if you can. 

They only need $1500 to replace the entire heating system.  There is a $750 matching grant being offered up right now. So all we have to do is raise $750 and these kids can hold on.  Donate here  http://www.life2orphans.org/  if you feel led.  All donations are tax deductible.  Please make sure to put TOREZ HEATER REPAIR FUND in the notes when you go through paypal,  in the notes section. Thank you so much.

snuggles

eli and mama having some love :)

Guest post :)

Hi!  I've been a terrible blogger lately, so when someone on an adoption group i'm on was looking for blogs to do a guest post, i sheepishly raised my hand...i mean, someone should be blogging here...ahem.  Anyway, here you go :)

 

Title: Where’s the Outrage?

Quick! Think of three things that make you angry.

Got it? Good.

People are interesting. You can tell a lot about a person by what makes them angry. Today, I scrolled through facebook to find some of the things that people will publically voice their angry opinions about. Here’s the list I found:

-Politics
-Slow internet
-Breakups
-Having two tests in one day
-Off-topic posts
-Having a cold or the flu
-Tourists
-Losing objects
-Being tired
-Things other people say on facebook
-Football games
-Grammatical mistakes
-The weather
-Being up late
-Missing laundry

Most of the things on that list would make any of us angry, but it’s all very trivial, isn’t it? At the end of the day, is your life ruined if the internet doesn’t work? Now, I’m going to tell you something that should truly make us all angry:

 

This is Karen. Karen is sixteen years old. She’s an orphan. Nobody ever came to adopt her. She’s been passed over again and again. Now, because of her age, she legally cannot be adopted unless she is adopted with her younger sister Chrystyna.

Did you get angry when you read Karen’s story? Did you clench your jaw over the injustice of the world? Did you want to spark a debate about a system that failed an orphaned young lady who needs parents just as much as any infant?

The problem with our society is that most of us don’t get angry. We only get angry if we sense a threat to our own well-being. If we have to wait in a line for too long, we’ll sigh and roll our eyes. If we see a photo of an orphan in need of adoption, we say, “Oh, that’s too bad” and move on with our day. It’s time, though, that we realize that these orphans are real children. Karen and Chrystyna have names, likes, dislikes, hopes, wishes, dreams, and desires just like the rest of us.

Now, because Karen is considered an older child and because of the fact that she has to be adopted with Chrystyna, her chances of being adopted at all are very, very slim. We can help her, though. One thing we can do to help is donate money to Chrystyna’s Reece’s Rainbow grant. Even the smallest amount will help get these girls home. Karen doesn’t have a grant because she doesn’t have a special need. However, if the girls are adopted together, any money placed in Chrystyna’s grant will also help Karen. Second, we can share. Post a link to their grant on facebook, twitter, or anything else you can think of. You may not have any money to spend, but you might know somebody who does. Even better, Karen and Chrystyna might find a family through a link that you posted. You never know. Finally, you can pray. If you do nothing else, please say many prayers for these two lovely girls. While you’re praying, challenge yourself to ignore the trivial things and get angry over the true injustices in the world. Kids like Karen and Chrystyna are counting on you.

 

A link to K & C: http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=chrystyna

My blog: youwillgooutwithjoy.blogspot.com

Adoption video

Here is our adoption video :)

Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjgEbQqudkY&feature=youtu.be

the beaten path

I took the kids to a local nature center today.  We decided to wander through the woods for awhile.  The older three were running and wandering, and Luci kept going off the path into the grassy/wooded part. 

Come back on the path i kept calling to her.  She kept telling me "NO", and kept pushing through.  I watched her fall and get up, fall and get up. 

Again, i encouraged her to come back on the path.  NO!!!  She told me again.  I watched her for a while more, then smiled and thought, good for her.  Its HARD to go off the beaten path. People will shout for you to come back to the safe, well traveled path.

 Adoption?  Hard??
Adopting a kid with special needs?  HARD
Trying to explain why you want a kid with special needs?  HARDER :)
Paperwork?  Hard and frustrating!
Waiting for your kid?  HARD
Traveling to a foreign country, not knowing anyone or the language?  HARD!
Leaving behind the other children?  HARDER
Trying to rescue other children and not being able to?  HARDEST!!!!

Is it worth it?  Absolutely. 

But it can be so scary to go off the path.  I hope, if i ever get the chance again, that i can skip off that path with absolute faith, just like my baby did today, knowing that everything will be fine in the end.  That it will be worth it in the end. 


P.S.  Because we wandered so far into the forest, we were the only family there after a while.  The nice lady at the nature center said bc we were the only ones there that she would get the bunny out and let us pet it!  So awesome!!!