Celebrating WDSD!

Last night we went to Monkey Joe's (bouncy house place) to celebrate World Down Syndrome Day with our local Down syndrome support group.

We all had fun, and even took some pictures! :)

Miss Grace wasn't too sure about the loud, crazy, and brightly colored place at first, but our sensory seeker quickly figured out how much fun she could have.

Elijah remembered going last year and had no fear!

Yeah, she really was this red. Playing too hard! lol

Anna and Jonathan

I (Sarah) was looking at my blog the other day and realized that the only picture I have of Grace and myself was from the orphanage and she was bald. So we took a new one. :)

Our Monkey Man is doing pretty well recovering from his surgery (a week today!). He has been drinking well, and was doing really well pain wise till the scabs came off. The past few days have been a little rough, but we'll get there.

"You mean I allowed to dive over this thing and land on my head??"

This is how all pictures of Grace going down the slide turned out. She LOVED it, and would not stop laughing, but always turned to the side coming down. lol

We're back!

Sarah here!

Well the 10 day wait is over and we are back in Ukraine! Mom and I that is.

Our flights were long of course, but okay. We were delayed 2 hours on our first flight, but we made the one out of Chicago because that one was an 1 hr late. We made up time in the air and made it to our gate in Germany with literally a few minutes to spare. Then on to Ukraine! Our MAF (most awesome facilitator) met us at the airport and we stayed with his and his beautiful wife last night (it's mid-morning Monday here).

Waiting in Chicago

eMy mom's update last night:
We arrived safely in Donetsk with no issues! Thank you Lord. As soon as we got our boarding passes at the gate in Munich, it was time to board. Whew! We slept most of the way to Donetsk. Our MAF picked us up at the airport and brought us to his apt. We all had a wonderful meal (borsch and a yummy Paleo friendly casserole) made MAF's wife. We have all the amenities of home, including super fast internet. Oh wait, we dont have fast internet at home.  But we are in good hands. Plan is to get some medical stuff done tomorrow morning to prove Sarah doesn't have TB so she can visit the orphanage. Then we'll head off to Grace's city to get the court decree, new birth certificate, tax id number, and then apply for her passport! Once we have the passport in hand, we'll head up to Kyiv.

Anyway, that is the plan. Thanks so much for praying us here. God is so faithful!

One last thing..has anyone ever had "pomelo"? Our MAF just brought some home from the grocery store. It is a very large citrus fruit, kind of like grapefruit but much sweeter and not as juicy. Very yummy!!! Wondering if anyone has seen them in the States? Here's a photo of it. 

Happy Sunday!

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This morning, we went to go get a chest x-ray done to prove I don't have TB and can visit the orphanage (I don't!), and then this afternoon, we drive down to region. Tomorrow we start the paper chase and I meet Grace!!! We'll continue visiting her this week while we wait for the passport. And gotcha day will sometime later this week, over the weekend, or Monday. That's when we will bust her out of that stinky orphanage forever and ever!

Then we head back up to Kiev, to do the embassy and medical appts for her. And then we will go home right after Christmas.


Here we come Grace!

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy 15th Birthday, Sarah!  How did my first baby get so old all of a sudden?  Guess that makes me pretty old.  But Pat and I are SO very proud of Sarah and love her very, very much. She is a pretty special young lady.

Sarah is a very hard person to buy gifts for. She is NOT your typical teen and really doesn't "want" anything that I can buy her.  (Her birthday list included being healed from Lyme disease and a family for "Jacob" - if I remember right.)

(Bunny trail here.) This is Jacob. (No, they don't make bumpo seats bigger in Asia. When Jonathan came home at the age of 12 months, he was TOO BIG for a bumpo seat. He got stuck in it. Jacob is 3. He needs out. Like yesterday.)

Ok, so I can't heal her (although I pray everyday for that) and I can't bring Jacob home (no, I really can't), but I will share her birthday wish with you. Stolen Borrowed right from her blog: 

++++++ Sarah's birthday wish ++++++

I put out a plea on facebook today.

It's my birthday today, and can I ask you a favor? This is Sutter. Like me, he is also turning 15 this year, he has cerebral palsy, and he is waiting for a family in EE.

I was at his orphanage, I was at the institution he will end up at (when he ages out next year), and no person should ever have to live in either of those places. I'm also pretty sure I met him. He needs out ASAP before he runs out of time!

Would you be willing to donate just $15 to his grant? As a present to me, and as an effort to save his life.

And if you donate today, let me know and I'll enter you in a drawing to win a free custom hat of your choice (see here). Email me at forhisgloryhandiwork(at)gmail(dot)com or comment here.

The link to donate is: SUTTER and THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

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Thank you so much for your consideration! (Sarah will leave the drawing open through Monday since I'm so late in blogging this.)

I am WAAAY behind on blogging our family events of the past few months.  ALL 10 of us have our birthdays between April and October, so lots of parties and not much time to blog about it.

Here are a few quick pics from Sarah's little party tonight. Sarah's traditional cake for her birthday is "Dirt Cake".  Except we forgot to get more Oreos when we ran to town to get the fair projects. Oops!  It still tasted great though.

30 candles
15 for Sarah
15 for Sutter

Yarn is always a safe gift for Sarah.
These colors were handpicked by her two little sisters.

Pat and Isaac were extremely privileged to go to the Packer pre-season game Friday night. Isaac's jersey (birthday gift a couple years ago) was still out so Elijah put it on himself and was dancing around.  

Yes, we were watching "Star of Christmas" in August...

Isaac's hair before the Packer game on Friday night. Summer buzz cut! 

Lyme Disease

Changing pace here for a bit.  Yes, Lyme disease. One of the running "jokes" among adopting families is "You know you are adopting when...." and fill in the blank.  Well, Sarah getting diagnosed with Lyme disease would be right at the top of the list!  She was diagnosed literally w/in day or two of our commitment to Grace.  Yes, this even tops the two spots of skin cancer Pat had removed shortly after we committed to Jonathan. But as always, we KNOW who wins and we KNOW who is going to when this battle. The Lord Jesus Christ!

Sarah has done an awesome job blogging about her Lyme disease journey so far. Sadly, it's not over yet. I beg you to pray for complete healing for her. She just started her second round of three-month treatment. (How in the world she managed to pass two CLEP tests while battling this, I have NO idea. She's amazing!)

I also encourage you to read her posts. Lyme disease can mimic SO many other diseases.  Get educated. Be careful and seek treatment immediately.

Here is a list of Sarah's posts: (if you only have time for one, please read the last one)

A New Special Need

My Lyme Story

What is Lyme Disease: Basics and the Bite

What is Lyme: Later Stage and Treatment

What is Lyme: The Controversy

The other night, Sarah had me watch a documentary called Under Our Skin and I can't tell you how much I learned.

Here's the trailer.

So very proud...

Last week, my oldest daughter, Sarah, earned her first college credits!  She did this by studying US History and then taking (and passing!) the History of the US I CLEP test.  So, she now has three college credits to her name.  Not too bad for only being 14 years old and being in 9th grade. :-)

We are so very proud of her! She worked hard and earned her score. But more importantly, we are so proud of her desire to serve the Lord in all that she does and passion to help those in need, especially special needs orphans.

In case you are interested, we used CollegePrep, which is part of the CollegePlus program, to guide her through the process with the help of an accountability mentor. CollegePrep helps homeschoolers earn dual credit - meaning Sarah earned high school and college credit at the same time. CollegePrep also evaluated her critical reasoning strengths and weaknesses, and then she went through a Critical Reasoning course which will help her with test taking her whole life. She will continue on her path of dual credit throughout her high school career and hopes to shave a year off her time in college. That would make all of us very happy!

Pied!!!

I know...shocking...TWO posts in one day!  I copied this from Sarah's blog What It Means to Love. I'm so proud of hers and Rachel's fundraising efforts...but this video...I double-dog dare you to watch it without laughing out loud! :-)

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Remember this post??

Well guess what! Lilly has been over the $500 mark for awhile, but today Owen made it! His AT total now is..

They are both now over $500, so Rachel and I were pied. My little brother Elijah wanted pie on his face too, so he grabbed a handful and smeared it all over. :)

But guess what!! There's more!! Guess who else hit their AT goal today??? LILLY! She MADE HER ANGEL TREE GOAL OF $1000 thanks to a challenge that was set up!!

Do you want to see Michelle, the RR donations coordinator get pied?? Help us get Owen to $1000!! We only need about $500 more! That is soo doable!

THANK YOU SOOO VERY MUCH TO EACH PERSON WHO DONATED TO LILLY AND OWEN FOR ANGEL TREE SOO FAR!! You rock!!!

Go here to visit Angel Tree!

12.12.12, Sarah, Opie Taylor and MORE!

If you have been reading for awhile (well, at least 13 months), you may remember that I like these fun dates. The last two - 10.10.10 and 11.11.11 were significant for us in the adoption world.  On 10.10.10, our amazing church family held a benefit for our family to raise funds for Elijah's adoption.  On 11.11.11, we completed Jonathan's readoption with a court date.  What does 12.12.12 bring us in our adoption world???  Ummm...nothing.  :-/  Maybe we'll talk about adopting again...we'll see. :-)

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It's been quite awhile since I've posted anything on here about the boys, or any of the kids for that matter.  Sorry about that! Unfortunately, today will not be the day for that.  We are having fun with Christmas preparations and I'm trying to not get too stressed out about things. The boys have both had ENT check-ups and Elijah has had his vision checked. No big news there. I'll update more on that soon hopefully.

I'm so, SOOO very proud of Sarah!!!  She is currently in the middle of a 3-week stint helping to provide childcare for a large adopting family.  The family is adopting none other than sweet Maxim that I mentioned a few times here! She flew alone and even navigated O'Hare by herself!  I miss her terribly though. I can't say it's been easy for her, but she is learning a lot and is grateful for the experience.  You can peek in on what she's been doing HERE. It would be great if you would leave her an encouraging comment or two.  Stay tuned for a very, VERY funny video.  I'll let her post it on her blog first, but you will NOT be able to keep a straight face...I promise.

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Wanna see "Opie Taylor" in the flesh (if you are local)???? :-) Well, come to the "Mayberry Miracle" this weekend!  Our dear son, Isaac, has been working hard on playing the role of Opie in our church's Christmas production, based on the Andy Griffith show. Go HERE for more information. The Friday night performance is sold out and a few tickets remain for Saturday at 2pm and 7pm. So don't delay! This play is very well written and produced, and shares the real reason for the season.


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For all you homeschoolers out there! Please check out this AMAZING sale that ends tonight!!! Even if you only use a couple of things from this extensive collection, it will be well worth the $12 bucks.

Hearts

I'm shamelessly copying this from Sarah's post the other day. She's a MUCH better blogger than me! Here is a little bit of info on heart defects found in children with Down syndrome. I had never seen this before, so it was interesting to me.  Please check out the rest of Sarah's post too! SO many children with heart problems need families!!!!!!

Ds Fact - (source) The overall incidence of congenital heart disease in the general population is 0.8 percent. The incidence of congenital heart disease in children with Down syndrome is up to 50 percent.

The types of heart defects in children with Down syndrome can be broken down into three broad categories:

1. Atrioventricular septal defects 
2. Ventricular septal defect (VSD), atrial septal defect, or patent ductus arteriosus
3. Other complex heart disease

Atrioventricular septal defects (AV Canal) is greatly over-represented in these children, making up approximately 60 percent of the congenital heart disease found in Trisomy 21. For comparison, AV canals account for only 2.9 percent of the congenital heart defects in the general population.

Ventricular septal defects, atrial septal defects, and patent ductus arteriosus comprise another 20 percent of the congenital heart disease associated with Down syndrome, although these defects are much more common in the general population compared to AV canals.

Other complex congenital heart diseases including Tetralogy of Fallot andhypoplastic left heart syndrome comprise the rest of the heart disease seen in Trisomy 21.

In addition to the heart defects associated with Down Syndrome, isolated elevated blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension) is seen with higher frequency in patients with Down syndrome. This high pressure may be related to malformation of the lung tissue, although the exact cause is not known.

The higher pressures may limit the amount of blood flow to the lungs and therefore decrease the likelihood of symptoms of congestive heart failure seen in babies with complete AV canals or large ventricular septal defects.

However, since the pulmonary hypertension can become irreversible, particularly if these large holes are not surgically corrected by a year of age, children with Down syndrome and AV canals or large ventricular septal defects are often referred for surgery earlier than a non-Down syndrome child with the same heart defect.

If the baby does have evidence of high pressures in the lungs, it may complicate postoperative management and hence prolong the recovery time.

Down Syndrome Awareness Walk Today!

We had a wonderful time today raising awareness for Down syndrome! It was a bit chilly but we were dressed for it and managed just fine. A huge KUDOS to the DSAW-Fox Cities board and volunteers. The walk gets better and better every year and they do a great job!!

I was humbled by all of the friends that came today to support our family and celebrate our children. Thank you so much!!!! We love you all!

Here are some great photos from Ashley. She is so talented. Thanks so much Ash for sending them so quickly!

Anna and "Big" Rebekah

Isaac

So cute! Isaac being a big brother to Carter.

Our whole "Triple Trouble Team"
I think we ended up with over 40 people! Wow!! We are so blessed! These 3 boys have a lot of folks who love them.
(You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Brothers!!!

Four handsome Ukrainian boys!!!

We thought it would be fun to get all of the Ukrainian kids together!
From left to right: Lucas from Krivoy Rog, Carter from Kiev, Jonathan from Kramatorsk, Elijah from Simferopol, and Lilya from Kiev (her and Carter were in the same orphanage). Lilya is a true blooded Ukrainian and did not want to sit on the ground, so that's why Sarah is in the photo too. :-) Or maybe it's because she's a proper young lady.
What an amazing blessing to have all five of these precious treasures in one place!!!!

Sadie and Rebekah

AHHHHHHHH! A great way to end a great day!

Why 31 for 21?

31 for 21...I'm not sure I explained this very well a couple of days ago. October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month (31 days). And of course, Down syndrome is a third copy of the 21st chromosome. Medically, Ds is called T21 or Trisomy 21.

Why am I taking the time to do this blogging challenge? Trust me, it is NOT that I don't have anything else to do. :-)  But, I hope to raise awareness about Ds and also educate folks about Ds. Also, it is because of this 31 for 21 challenge that I learned about Ds from other bloggers and God began to prepare my heart for adopting these two precious boys.  Here is what I shared last year about the challenge, and Michelle's blogging. (Last year, I shared a Ds fact and also a blog about Ds almost everyday.)

Posted October 3, 2011 -
Blog about Ds:  http://www.zoromski.blogspot.com/  I've known Michelle since at least 2005 I think - long before I really even knew what a blog was. After Ruby and Lydia were born w/ Ds in 2007, she started a blog chronicling their journey. She posted TODAY about her story where she now has 3 daughters with Ds. Go ahead and read it. I'll wait. :-)  Little did Michelle or I know at the time, but she was educating me about Down syndrome - taking the "fear" away. Much of what I learned about Ds came through her 31 for 21 blogging challenges over the years.

I very strongly believe that Elijah and Jonathan would not be here right now if it weren't for Michelle's blogging. I'm forever deeply grateful for her dedication to sharing about her life, Ruby's life, and now Lilya's life. See, she educated me about Ds, and then opened my eyes to the plight of orphans in EE that have Ds. NEVER EVER did I picture myself adopting a child with Ds. Never. Until one night I was looking at the RR site and God....God said "Go."  And we obeyed. God gets ALL of the glory for that. He worked it out through His perfect timing. HE IS AMAZING!  If you want the really long version of that story, you can read part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE. Wow, what a trip down memory lane rereading those posts. Seems like an eternity ago, but really only just over a year.


As I was preparing this, Sarah and I were talking about how many orphans are now HOME with their forever families because of Ruby, Lydia, and Lily. I believe only God could have orchestrated this ripple effect...I come up with at least NINE off the top of my head - directly or indirectly. That's not counting the farther reaching effects that we don't know about. Of course there are other factors and God gets ALL the glory, but it is still fun to think about. And you know what, God's not done yet!

Well, I guess this post about Ds has turned into an adoption post. I can't separate them. And that's ok! :-)

Help Set the Butterfly Free!!!

Below - from the heart of my daughter, Sarah. Please read and pray about how you can help. Feel free to repost anywhere and everywhere. Thanks! I would love to see Rachel get her birthday wish!




Somewhere on the other side of the world there is a beautiful butterfly just waiting for her cocoon to break open so she can be set free.

But she got stuck in her cocoon and wasn't able to come out the same time as most of the butterflies her age. She is soo beautiful on the inside, and just needs love to help her break free to the outside.

So here's where she needs your help. She needs you to help set her free from the cocoon (orphange/possibly institution) she is stuck in.

You can help set Lilly love free by sponsoring a piece of her puzzle!

Her butterfly puzzle! That's right we are doing a puzzle fundraiser!

After the puzzle is filled up, it will be glued and given to Lilly's future adoptive parents when they bring her home. One day, Lilly will be able to look at this butterfly and see all the many people who loved her and helped her break free!

To sponsor a puzzle piece: 
Donate just $5 (times whatever amount of puzzle pieces you want to sponsor if more than one) to Lilly's grant. You can donate by:
-Using the chip-in on our sidebar (which goes directly to RR, just we can see who has donated)
-Using Lilly's account directly on RR
-Sending a check to:
Reece's Rainbow
PO Box 4024
Gaithersburg, MD 20885
(BE SURE to specify in the memo line it's for 'Lilly 3G').

After you have donated, you have to email us telling us how many pieces you sponsored, what names you would like on them (we are just doing last initial), and what method you used to pay. Our email is handiworkforelijah (at) gmail (dot) com. If you do not email us, you will not get your names on the puzzle! You can sponsor a piece for every member of your family, or you can sponsor a piece in honor or loving memory of someone!

We already have a good start on it, since we have put the names of everyone who has ordered from us while we have been raising money for Lilly. There are 500 pieces, and only 37 have names on them. That leaves 463 left.

What we have filled in so far! The upper right wing.

My 9 yo sister gave $5 of her own money to get her name on puzzle piece, and $5 is a lot of money for a 9 yo! Can't you give too? PLEASE help us set her free!

But here's the catch. Our goal is to have it filled in little less than a month from now. In other words, we want to have it all filled in by midnight on May 28th. You know why May 28th? Because that is this girl's birthday:

Rachel. My other half, and best friend. Also Lilly's warrior, and the one who first fell in love with Lilly. I quite frankly, could not  keep this blog running without her help.

She's turning 16, and I can tell you for a fact without even confirming it with her, that there is nothing she wants more for her Sweet Sixteen then for Lilly to have a family. Nothing.

And you can help get Lilly one step closer to that goal by being a piece of the puzzle. Becoming part of her butterfly! Help set her free!

Please bless Rachel, but more importantly, help Lilly find a family by getting your name on a puzzle piece!

Think 463 a lot?? I don't think so! Not for God! Let's knock out that number, shall we? Thank you!!!