Two-fer

Teeny tiny announcement :)  We are adopting TWO children this time around :)  It's a long and probably only interesting story to us, BUT, the end result is, we are bringing home two lovely little girls.  "Lillie" is two, and "Jocelyn" is 6.  Jocelyn is very, very tiny, weighing in at 15 pounds. 

We are completely aware that she will have many many needs once she is home, very different than bringing home Eli.  We are prepared for it to be hard, possibly for a long time.  But, in the end, her life is worth it.  She is worth everything to us, and we are so so excited to be bringing her home :)



here is our "baby".  Please know this is a recent picture.  She is 6!  My arms are already aching to hold her.  Please join us in our rejoicing that we can add this precious bundle to our family

quick video

Eli playing this little piggy with his big brother.  Makes me laugh everytime :) 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JkFAYXsctM

6

Oh my heart. 

Today my heart is hurting.

When we walked out of Eli's orphanage for the last time, I was a weeping, sobbing, snotty mess (my apologies again to our friend who traveled with me).  It was many things really.  Watching a nanny take Eli into a corner to tell him she loved him.  Watching her kiss him and tell him to be a good boy.  Feeling her kiss my cheek and cry on my shoulder and tell me she loved me, thanking me for giving him a family.  Knowing her heart was breaking a little to say goodbye to a child she had known and cared for his entire life, even if she was so happy for him to have a family.

Kissing and hugging the children I had fallen in love with over the previous two weeks for the last time, knowing I would never see most of them again.  Hoping they would also be chosen.  I've thought about those children so many times over the last 5 months.  I have REJOICED to find out that Eli's best friend had been SEEN, chosen and wanted by a loving family.  Finding out they live close enough for me to see that sweet face again, to be able to watch my son be reunited with his best friend in the future will be a sweet moment I am sure. 

I saw a post from this sweet family on facebook today.  They had been told that since their little one was turning 6 soon, that she may be transferred to an institution before they could get to her.  Luckily, that is not going to happen, and their little one will be kept safe until they can rescue her.  So I cheered with them. 

And then it hit me.  6.  6?  6!!!!  We brought Eli home in October, and he turned 6 this month.  And my heart cracked again.  thinking of my sweet boy, and his possible fate if we hadn't rescued him.  He is so full of life, of vigor.  He enjoys life, all the experiences he can have.  What would that transfer have done to him?  I have no idea what the institutions are like where he is from.  I know he was in an excellent orphanage.  I know in many other countries children are transferred as soon as age 4, and many of those children do not live long afterwards. 

Adoption is tough stuff.  Our transition with Eli has truly been a dream, and still it can be tough.  But let me tell you friends, Each one of these children is worth is.  Each one of these children is worth my heartache today over what could have happened to my sweet boy.  Each one of these children just wants a family to call their own.  Please look at each one of these children, and imagine if it were your child facing transfer to an institution...

http://reecesrainbow.org/51124/casey
  Although he looks like a very young child, Casey will be 16 soon and permanently unable to be adopted...could he be your son?

http://reecesrainbow.org/40627/vytas


http://reecesrainbow.org/21839/millie-57-2

 Millie's picture makes me want to weep.  Poor baby needs a mama to wipe those tears away and give her something to smile about. 

Homeschooling a child with Down Syndrome

I get lots of questions about homeschooling Eli, so i thought i would post some videos to show you some of the things we work on each day :)

Wordless Wednesday

They say it's your birthday...

It's my birthday too :)  No, not really!

Today is Eli's Birthday (well, technically, it will be in one hour).  I feel....so many things.

 I am SO VERY excited to be celebrating this birthday, his first one since he joined our family, with him. 

I am SAD that we missed the last 5 birthdays.  I know they actually celebrated the kids birthday's in his orphanage, so i know he had a little celebration, just not with us.  We have pictures of him on his previous birthdays, and that is something awesome that i think most people don't get when they adopt an older child from an orphanage.

I wonder about his birth mother.  Is she thinking about him today, wondering how he is doing?  Is she remembering giving birth to him?  I wonder if there were happy feelings before they realized he had Down Syndrome.  I feel, sad that he was given up and left for 5 years in an orphanage, but at the same time, we wouldn't have him if that hadn't happened.  So, it's a mixture of feelings here :)

I hope, somehow, she knows he is loved, and wanted, and cherised.

We traveled around the world to bring this little guy home, safe and loved in our family, and he is worth every late night doing paperwork, fundraising, leaving the other children home, every doctor visit.  We would do it all over again for him.
 

I promise to love him every day for the rest of my life. 

I promise to do my absolute best to give him everything he needs, wants and desires.

 I promise to raise him the way we are raising our other children. 

I promise kiss his boo-boos, discipline him when needed, hug him daily and tickle him often.

Mostly, i promise to  keep this awe and joy i feel when i look at him, and realize he is ours, forever and always.

Happy Birthday baby boy, Mama loves you!

 



First Birthday

Second Birthday

Third Birthday



 

Fourth Birthday

 





We celebrated his 5th birthday without him

Big Man!

I'll let the pics speak for themselves :)