Awesome Fundraiser to Bless Many Families!

I LOVE these products! 

Sevenly is doing a fundraiser again this year for Reece's Rainbow, but this year the proceeds are benefitting families who are waiting to travel to bring their child home! 

That includes us! I haven't said much, but with the new regulations, we are no longer fully funded (we will be needing around $1,500 or more in addition to what we have already raised). But so many other families are far short of what they need to bring their child/children home!

 All the proceeds from this fundraiser will be divided equally between all of the families! Check it out and order some T-Shirts - $7 from each item purchased will go to these families  - these are the "almost home" families/children, and we are only one of many families in this category!

These hats are hand knit by women in Uganda

Over $3,000 has already been raised for these families already!  This campaign only lasts a week (I think it started today, but I am not sure).  

These are made in Costa Rica providing jobs there! 

Please consider purchasing something, and please share on your social networking (blog, FB, twitter, Google+) and help these families bring their children home!!!

This event ends January 6, so don't wait to order!

A Surprise Blessing!

Photos taken 12/14!

We had something amazing happen last week!  While I was reading a blog from a family who was on their "meet ya" trip this week in Christy's country, I recognized Christy's city!  This family was able to bring their son to stay with them for 3 days instead of visits twice a day like we had!  Then she commented that now they have to find things to do.  I contacted her, as I had seen that she had the same translator/driver that we did (Yavor), to see if it would be possible to check in to see if the thickener I was able to have brought to Christy was working and how the supply was lasting.

Not only were they able to do that, but Yavor was allowed to visit Christy and take photos!  He said she was quite tired (probably just laying down for a nap).  He also found out that the thickener is working well, and that the supply I sent should last a long time.  The nurse also requested that we send her some orthotic hose to help with her legs as she is super flexible and they think it would help to limit her movement.  It would take yet another miracle, actually a series of miracles, but we might just be able to pull it off and get her some "hip huggers."  I will work to get the hip huggers to our adoption agency attorney over there through a family who is going over there for their first trip in early January, and then she'll need to give it to Yavor and he would have to be going to her city with another family and have time to go to Christy's group home in order for us to get them to her, but it is possible...Please pray that we will be able to do this for her.

Her email was so fun to read, I'll quote it here:

"Dear Ruth!

We were able to go to Christy's group home today twice. The first time we went and Yavor went in and the nurse wasn't there until 12:00. This was in the morning. Yavor got to see Christy, and the care giver told him that Christy was doing really well, but she didn't know about the thickener, or anything about the supply of it needed. She said he should ask the nurse. Yavor said Christy was doing really well, though, and the caregiver told him that she'd had a medical appointment the week before and that went great!

So we went and had Jerry's visa picture taken and then we went to the mall and had lunch and then came back to the group home after noon. I said to Yavor, "see if you can get some photos of Christy and tell them her American Mama would be soooo happy!"...so Yavor took my camera and went in to check with the nurse. On his way in he said.."Now you realize that I probably won't be able to take any pictures, but I"ll try anyway!"...and then when he came out he brought me these on my camera!

Oh Ruth! She's so beautiful! I'm so thankful that we got to encourage you in this way! I said to Yavor..."Bravo!" "Bravo!"..he was beaming that he got to do that!

So..the report from the nurse:

Christy is doing great. She's off of her heart medicine now and only on her brain medicine. She's growing and actually outgrowing all of her clothes! She doesn't need any more thickener at this time. It's working well, but she has enough for a long time to come she said. Also, she mentioned wanting some stretchy ortho type socks or tights that would help to keep her legs straighter. Not sure what that meant, but she thought you might know, and if you could send those, that would be great. When you come for picking up, you'll need to bring her bigger clothes, the nurse said!

Okay..love to you!! Praying this blesses your day greatly!

 Mary!!!

Um, yeah!  That totally blessed my socks off!  And she's a woman after my own heart with all those exclamation points!  LOVE IT!!!!!!

As far as our adoption stuff goes, we were able to get our fingerprints done last Thursday, and I will be mailing them in through an FBI Channeler.  This way we should get our background checks back in about 2 weeks instead of 6 - 8 weeks!  Then I will have to send them to Caring Hands (a service that hand delivers documents to the US Secretary of State in Washington DC to get apostilled) and we will have them send the apostilled background checks directly to our adoption agency!

I am still hoping to hear any day now that our second stage dossier has been submitted.  These fingerprints/background checks will not be needed until we are assigned a judge/court date (and they might not be needed at all, as it depends on which judge we get), so this is not slowing anything down.

So here are the steps we still have left to go through:

-Article 5 translated/authenticated and  added to complete dossier submitted to Big Wig (approx 12/18)

-Complete dossier goes through 1 month of passing through lots of hands (finish approx 1/20)

-Gets signature from big wig (approx 1/27)

-is taken to the courts. (approx 1/31)

-assigned to a judge (approx 2/14)

-assigned a court date (approx 2/20)

-court date/adoption granted (approx 3/1)

-adoption gets signed court decree from the judge (approx 3/10)

-new birth certificate is applied for (approx 3/11)

-travel dates given once new birth certificate is done (approx 3/18)

Then we get to go bring her home (end of March?)

We also were blessed to have one of our photos of our visits with Christy put in a video that was just released today!  Please share this video, and consider participating in the 2013 



And please read about the Winslow family and there visits with their precious children last week.  This is the family who worked with Yavor in order to get updates on Christy! They still stand in need of funds to complete their adoption, so please consider donating to their grant!

Thank you Mary Winslow!

Thank You Yavor!!

Thank You God!!!

A little more about day three

Daryl is heading out for the last visit with Christy right now.  I came down with a very sore throat and barky vough late yesterday so I am resting in the hotel - I do not want to give this to any of the children in the group home, especially Christy!

So yesterday morning we showed up ay 8:45 so we could go with Christy to jer physical therapy session.  We road with the group home's driver.  Christy loves riding in a car - this was good news as on our return trip to bring her home she'll start off with a 4+ hour car ride!  The ride to therapy was fairly long as the traffic and roads are insane - narrow roads and crazy drivers!

  We arrived at a large building which I assumed was a hospital, and climbed up 6 flights of stairs.  Christy doesn't weigh mich, probably around 25 pounds, but the last coupke of flights got tough!  Then we went down a hallway where there were room off the hallway each with two neatly made beds.  At the end of the hall we entered the therapy room.  It looked very kuch like the therapy rooms that we have taken Esther to.  There were two therapistsmthere, plus the one that came with us from the group home and a little boy, blind from birth, that had come ther in Yavor's car with the therapist.  They worked with Christy first (another  in the room soon after we arrived so the second therapist was working with him)
We were pleased with the therapy she received.  She was not.  Christy does NOT like to use her right hand and that is the focus of the therapy.  We had our first opportunity of seeing her cry.  Her crying was not very loud, but she did a lot of complaining.

 After an hour, she was sat nearby the therapists and given a box of toys to play with while the therapist worked with the little blind boy.  You could tell that this was her favorite part.  While we were there we found out that the building was actually the Baby Home where Christy had lived before goin to the group home last July.  We also found out that they are working to close it down, and placing the children in group homes and foster homes.  This is a long process, so it might takes years before  it is actually closed. 

After the therapy we all got into our driver's car andheaded back to the group home, no car seats.  The therapists from the group home sat in the back seat holding the little blind boy, and I was holding Christy.  It was about a 29 minute ride.  Spending 20 minutes with another woman and not being able to talk with her (she understands some English, but only speaks a few words) was a very strange thing for me.  I so wanted to talk with her a get to know her, but it just wasn't possible - not even small talk!  I did find out that she works mornings at Christy's group home and afternoons at a group home for older orphans that do not have special needs.

   Once we got back, she was very tired.  We spent a little time outdoors, and then went inside for some play time.  I fed her lunch and then we left to get lunch.  We decided that the Happy Bar And  Grill was our favorite place to eat, so that is where we eat every lunch and dinner.

After lunch, it was back to the hotel for a nap, and the  back for the afternoon visit at 4 pm.  I was quite tired, and I assumed it was from the long morning.  This visit I tried to get to olay withher more, even getting down on the floor with her (difficult for me since me knee injury last year).  I was able to get her to have some fun, but not quite like Daryl does.  It was a pleasant visit, filled with play time and cuddles.  During this ur visit I began to notice a dry spot in my throat - like I had choked on something and had irritated my thoat.  But it just wouldn't go away. As usual,our visit ended with my feeding her dinner.

After the visit we went for dinner.  After  we headed back to the hotel.  There my throast got worse as the evening progressed.  I worked on wiriting out the translation that our driver had given me for the words in the photo albums I had created for Cnristy of our family, home and activities.  By the time I went to bed, I knew I was getting sick.  I didn't sleep very well and had thoughts of how I would survive strep  on our long journey home.

Day three...just a note for now

I need to pack, and get some sleep, so I'll leave you with this amazing moment from today

Second day of visits!

Today was another great day.  For the first time since we left home I got a good night's sleep!  Yeah!!  We had breadfast at the hotel, hung out in the room for a little bit and then headed out to the group home for our visit.

 When we got there she warmed up to us right away.  I had a terrible headache, so Daryl spent the most time with her.  She just came alive with him.  She loves be bounced, and love playing on the play mat with the ping pong ball we brought.  With some experimenting we found that the she enjoyed rough housing.  She loved it when Daryl would roll her over from her tummy to her back, and also if he slid her across the mat.  But her favorite was being spun around.  She would laugh and laugh and laugh!  We were delighted.

At the end of our visit they asked if I would feed her lunch again, and of course I said yes.  So our visit was more like 2 1/2 hours instead of the planned 2 hours.  We didn't mind!

She loves to talk and has a great time expressing herself!

But she also loves her cuddle time too!

After our visit we went out for lunch at a different restaurant and the food was very good, but the dish I ordered was very spicey.  But I enjoyed it and did not suffer from any problems, so it was all good!

After lunch we returned to the hotel and we looked at the photos and videos we took, but I was so sleepy that I was soon snoozing!  We woke up with very little time before we were to meet with our driver again, so I quickly uploaded a few videos to Facebook and we left.  When we got to the group home, the first thing we did was take her out in the stroller to get her VISA photos taken.  We had to walk a few blocks but that was fine.  At the photopraphers, (not very proffessional place0 she had us put her on a stool, which was quite wobbly.  Christy was very insecured and on the verge of frightened.  It was challenging to be able to hold her and stay out of the photos, but eventually we got what we needed and headed back.

We took her out to the back yard again and sat and I tried pushing her in the basket style swing, but she didnot like it.  We held her on the bench for a while but she was very laid  back and not interested in playing.  She wouldn't even repond much, if at all, to Daryl's attempts to play.  She just seemed very tired and wanted to snuggle.  While Daryl was snuggling with her another little boy that we had met earlier came up to us and was fascinated by the camera.  he climbed up in my lap and watched as I showed him the photos and videos on the camera - he just loved it.  He was on my lap for at least 1/2 hour even!  This little boy's dimple and smile are amazing.  He has no speech, but he's a very sweet little boy and gets so excited at being near us that he shakes!

We decided to take her inside to see if she's be more comfortable in there.  After a little while I was able to get her to begin to respond to me and we had a great time.  I have found out that she is ticklish and she also loves to have her hair played with or to have my smooth her hair.

At 6 when our visit was to end, they asked if I'd feed her dinner as they were short handed (2 ladies for 10 special needs children) so we stayed until 6:30.  The little boy came out and stood by me for a long time while I was feeding her.  He just seemed to want to be with us.

After that we went to have dinner, and ordered a dessert to take back to the hotel.  Then we skyped with the children plus Jeremy and Samantha got added in.  It was great to heard everyone (we couldn't get the video to work on a three way call).  Soon I will go to bed and I am hoping for another good night's sleep!  Talk to you all tomorrow!

Going Public!

We found out today that we can post photos of Christy as long as we do not disclose her location or her real name!  I've edited all previous posts to remove all references to her location.  Please to not include her location if you know it in any comments you might post!

Today was AMAZING!!!!!!  Our first visit was a little slow at the start, but once I got brave enough to pick her up, she just melted in my arms.  She was a snuggle bug!  She loves the toys we brought, but the ping pong ball was her favorite!  The Lady Bug was second.  During the first visit we were mostly i nthe livingroom type of room, holding her in our lap, but we also put her on a mat to see her move around on the floor. She's really developed since the videos that we got when we committed to adoptiong her back in February!

She can now roll over, spin around while on her back, and go from laying down to sitting up all by herself!  She also sits unaided.  She's grown too!  We found out that she was moved from the orphanage to the group home in July.  They told us that she had only been fed by bottle, but that her swallowing challenges made drinking from a bottle hazardous for her (we will definitely need to work on getting her to learn how to swallow properly).  They have taught her to eat baby food that they make (it smelled really good and was like a mushy stew).  And they give her water by spoon very carefully.

They said we could watch her eat lunch, and then once she got started, they let me feed her!  The Daryl fed her some too.  We got some great video that we can send to the UW adoption medical clinic so they can make recommendations for feeding her on the trip home based on her swallowing difficulties.  She does OK with the food, but liquids will have to be thickened - I just wish we could get her some thickening stuff for them to use between now and the going home trip.  He skin is quite dry which indicates that she's not getting enough fluids.  She also has reflux pretty bad, so she lost some of the water she took in not long after it went down.

After that first visit we went out to lunch, and then back to the room to FB, blog and take a nap.  We went back for our second visit at 4 pm.  This visit was incredible.  She was a little sleepy when we got there as she had just woken up and had a snack.  We played with her for a while and then we were able to take her out into the backyard.  I held and hugged her for a while - she really loves snuggling.  Then Daryl took her and a miracle happened before my eye - I can't describe it, but I can show you the videos!

Right before our eyes her character and personality just blossomed.  She began cooing and babbling and that turned into laughter!  What a thrill to experience all that on our first day.  She also cuddled with her daddy too - here are my favorite photos from the day, plus a few more too!

Christy meeting her family through a photo album I created
that my sister had gifted to us!

      

She gives hugs just like Esther does, with her hand turned out!

Hand in hand, the beginning of a new life together!

Praising God today - Great Visit, Great News!

I'm going to make this quick - we had a great first visit, we have no restrictions on photos, but we can not make her location (city or country) public, so I have edited my earlier posts so I can make this blog public/transfer these posts to our adoption blog.

But for your viewing pleasure....

Surviving the last leg of the journey!

The last leg in our journey to meet Christy has been accomplished.  This morning I woke up at 3 am (5 pm home time) and could not get back to sleep.  So after 4 I got up and blogged and facebooked and skyped with our children (that was amazing!).  Then we went down and had a delicious, slightly weird, breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

After breakfast we returned to our room and packed everything up.  Then we took a little walk to the corner grocery store. It was about 15 feet by 30 feet, had two aisles but a little of everything.  We bought two 1 1/2 liters of water and two large chocolate bars, Milka brand.  It only cost about $3 USD.  The only English the cashiers spoke was "no" and "no english." 

We still had a few hours to kill, so I took a nap while Daryl watched some sports on the TV - football (soccer) is really popular here and there was a big game here in the capitol on Friday.  He enjoyed watching some football even though there was no English spoken - sports for him is enjoyable in any language!  I  actually had the best sleep yet, but felt like a drunken sailor when I got up (it was then 2 am home time!).

We went back to the restaurant (we had the same waitor for every single meal, such a sweet young man!) and ordered a sandwich to split.  We also asked to substitute a salad for the french fries.  He brought out two plates that looked like the photo above.  Once again, beautiful presentation and it tasted even better!  It was filled with chicken, fried eggs, cheese, lettuce and tomato and a mayonaise like spread.  And it was only about $7.00.

 We had noticed that when we ordered pop, they came in a very thick glass bottle (we have been ordering sprite and today I ordered an iced tea).  The glass bottles had wear markings, so we asked our driver about it.  Here the recycle the bottles - re-use/refill them!  That was cool to learn.  There is a Coke bottling plant right in the capitol!

 The buildings here are mostly in great disrepair.  The poverty is very apparent.  The buildings are mostly in use, but there are also many abandoned buildings too.  Many businesses are gone and nothing has replaced them.  The streets are not properly kept, but not too much garbage to see.  But you have to watch you step as the sidewalks are very uneven.  It would be very easy to trip - I've already tripped a couple of times while gawking at the architecture.  So many buildings are so very old with ornate tops, but most are not well kept. 

After lunch we brough our luggage down to the lobby and soon our driver showed up.  We left at 1:30 pm.  I just have to say that driving in here is insane.  Rules of the road are optional.  Lanes changes can happen at any time, usually with no blinkers used.  Strandling lanes or even the center lane is expected if there is no oncoming traffic.  I've seen this done in Iowa, but not in a city!  And the highway?  The speed limit is 90 MILEs an hour!  Fun if you love driving fast, but not so fun when the other drivers (and sometimes our driver) drive so insanely!  I tried just not watching but then I was getting car sick due to the on/off on the gas and rapid lane changing.  I was in the back seat, so by the end of the day I was nearly a basket case.  Jet lag + 4 hours of insane traffic = one splitting headache.  Thankfully we stopped at a gas station on the way and I was able to take some migraine medicine and my headache was gone by the time we went to dinner.

On the way, we passed through many "villages" that were made up of several hundred buildings, mostly homes, that were run down, partially built or completely abandoned.  There were some well kept, and some had lovely little yards with grape trellises with grape vines growing on them.  We saw gypsies, and several wagon like things - picture the fortune teller (later he's OZ) in The Wizard of Oz and the wagon that he had and you'll know what I'm talking about.  We also saw donkeys and horses pulling wagons, and herds of goats, sheep and cows being herded by shepherds.  There are some bicycles and in the city there was even electric trolleys and buses for public transportation.

We arrived at our destination after 4 hours of driving.  Our driver had no idea where the hotel was, so he stopped in at a very official looking buildging (we found out that it was a customs building as this city is a border town).  He got some general directions, but he was told he would have to get more specific directions once he got in the general neighborhood.  It didn't take long, and after asking two ladies for more specific directions we were able to locate the hotel.

The customs buildling
This was about 1/4 of the whole building

On arriving at the hotel, we got our rooms.  Our driver is on the "2nd" floor (which is really the 3rd floor as around here the main floor is called "zero") and ours is on the 23rd floor - and no elevator!  I was exhausted and suffering from a sore muscle from our escapades in London so Daryl and Yavor (our driver) brought our bags up and then came back down and we headed out to find the restaurant that the hotel attendant recommended.  The attendant spoke amazing English.  He told us that he had spent time in the US on the East coast (I think he said he worked there).

We walked to the restaurant (had to ask for directions at least once in order to find it).  Again, most building were in disrepair but showed former grandeur.  This city is one of the oldest cities in this country!  I'll try to get some photos of the buildings over the next few days.

The restaurant was amazing.  Even the driver was really impressed.  He told us that is was decorated very authentically like a 19th century meditoranian village.  Some of the tables were made from wagons, there were wagon wheels used as decorations even.  The bench we sat on was covered with real goat/sheep skins.  The overhang above us was like a bavarian cottage eve.

The menu was like a book - there were at least 12 pages of items to order.  Most of them did not sound apetizing (chicken gizzards, liver and "pope's nose" better know as the tailbone!).  But we found a chicken dish with cheese, mushrooms, cheese and a sauzce.  Daryl and I weren't very hungry, so we split the dinner and each ordered a sprite.  The dinner was about $12 USD.  More than the restaurant we ate in at the last hotel, but still a good deal.

Before I dinner arrived, I asked to use the restroom so Yavor (our driver) asked the waiter to show me where the bathrooms were.  One of the waters showed me where it was.  Dary said that he then was talking with the other waiters, and it seemed that they were discussing my using the restroom.  When I got to the restroom, there were no stall doors and only a hole in the floor with ceramic around it and a place on each side for your feet.  I thought for sure that I had wandered into the men's bathroom, but no, the door had a woman figure on it!  I stood there dumbfounded for a minute and then left without using it - not in a million years would I use that!  I think the waiters were placing bets on whether or not the American Woman would use the facilities!  YUCK!

This is Yavor, our driver/enterpreture - he's a very nice guy too!

The dinner was very tasty, but the service wasn't the best.  The restaurant was HUGE - like 1/2 a block with many smaller rooms like the one we were in.  We just might go again, but I'll be sure to use the hotel bathroom first (but I might take a photo of the bathroom just to prove my outrageous story!).

After dinner we returned to the hotel and I was able to see our room for the first time.  It is beautiful.  I unpacked, facebooked and now blogged.  It's now 10:30 pm here so I must get to sleep!  Tomorrow we see Christy, and I can't wait to share those photos with you.  But just so you all know, until we get there we have no idea what the director's policy is on photographs.  We might get free reign to publish photos and this blog can go public, or we might be allowed to publish photos in only closed setting like we have now, or we may even not be allowed to take photos at all - please pray that we will at least be allowed to take photos!

Blessings to you all from the other side of the planet!