Are You Even A Little Curious???

I recently added a picture of a beautfiul little boy to my blog. I'm sure some of you are probably wondering - who is this gorgeous little man? Well...his name is Theo and he is in desparate need of a family.

Theo lives in Eastern Europe. He has Down Syndrome and is in need of a Mommy & Daddy. (Maybe even a sister & brother or two). Could you be Theo's forever family?? Just look at that beautiful face. That blond hair - those blue eyes. Doesn't he deserve a loving home?

Please considering joining my family and I in helping Theo this holiday season. Our goal is to raise money towards his adoption fund so that when he does find his forever family (or they find him) they won't be afraid of the cost of bringing this little guy home.

There are so many waiting children out there that are in need of a family and the biggest thing that keeps them from getting a family is money! This breaks my heart!

So I am asking, begging, etc that you consider making a donation to Theo's adoption fund. It doesn't have to be much - $5 - $10. Whatever you feel you are able to donate (it can obviously be more too).

All money donated through the chip in on my blog goes directly to Reece's Rainbow and is tax deductible. If you feel more comfortable mailing a check please make your check out to Reece's Rainbow and mail it to Reece's Rainbow P.O. Box 4024 Gaithersburg, MD 20885 and put Theo's name in the memo line. Remember all donations are tax deductible! You could help save a child by contributing to their adoption fund!

Girl's Best Friend

It is so funny to see Milana interact with our 3 dogs. We were worried when we first brought her home that Bailey would bark at her and scare her(because of the barking). Fortunately Bailey didn't bark at her at all. None of our 3 dogs barked at Milana. They eagerly sniffed and licked her as soon as we brought her home.

What we didn't expect was Milana's reaction to the dogs. The minute she laid eyes on them she screamed like crazy. If they looked at her or came near her she would scream! We realized within just a few hours of having her home that she wasn't really afraid of them, but she continued to scream for the next 24 hours or so whenever they came near her.

Now she can't get enough of them. She loves to pet them and kiss them. When they lick her face she laughs so hard. On a few occasions we have seen her stick out her tongue to lick them too :)

As you can see Milana and the dogs have become best buddies. Most days those poor dogs can't escape her. Even if they are trying to sleep she will go over to them and start yelling at them to get them to wake up. She sticks her face right under theirs so that they will pay attention to her (and lick her). If it doesn't work with one dog she moves on to the next.

Milana really likes to boss the dogs around. She will yell and point at the pillow for them to go lay down. Then she follows them over, plops herself down and sticks her face in theirs or starts petting them. You gotta love the friendship between a girl and her dogs :)

Random Pictures

Don't you just love this face? This is Milana's idea of smiling for the camera :) Here is Milana eating her very first Dunkin Donut. We figured it was safe to put the whole thing in front of her as there was no way she was getting that whole thing in her mouth. She tried, but to her dismay it did not work!

She looks so serious. Doesn't she?

My littlest storm trooper. Too bad the whole costume won't fit.

Buddy Walk

Yesterday was the TDSN Buddy Walk. We were fortunate enough to have two very special guests at this amazing event - Andrea Roberts and her son Reece :) It was so amazing to get to meet the woman who started it all as well as the inspiration behind it all. Thank you so much to both of you for coming.

Here we have Milana and Reece just hanging out and enjoying a quiet moment. Didn't our table look great?? We would not have been able to pull it off without Kristin who organized the table and took care of all the details. Thanks Kristin!

We got a great group shot of Andrea with 3 families who recently brought home their children. From left to right we have Andrea, Nadia, Kristin, Jenn, Milana, Nikki, and Ezekiel.

My twins Riley and Peyton are standing behind Nadia, Milana, and Reece. They all had a blast. Fortunately for Kristin and I Nadia and Milana were content to just chill in the strollers for most of the BW. And of course thanks to Grandma Paul (Kristin's Mom) for keeping Milana occupied when I was helping with the table.

This is my favorite picture. Milana and Andrea. Without Andrea we would have never found Milana and she would still be in an orphanage. Without Andrea so many children would still be in orphanages or institutions and would not have the quality of life or the loving families that they have today. Thank you Andrea for all you do! You are an amazing woman!

Trying To Catch Up

I have been trying to post for days, but unfortunately blogger doesn't want to cooperate with me when it comes to uploading pictures. So...I'm a bit behind the times.

Anyway...Milana did have her tubes put in on Thursday. Here she is clowning around for the camera before the surgery. She makes this face quite often when she notices you trying to take her picture. (She is a piece of work). They told me when she came out of surgery that she could be cranky and irritable. Fortunately for us both she was her usual self. Here she is playing with her oxygen mask. She enjoyed holding it over her face and then taking it off only long enough to offer you some of her oxygen.

Aaahhh...here she is making that face again. You'd think she was in pain or something, but she was just being silly :)

This girl is addicted to the oxygen. She looks so serious doesn't she? You'd think she was an expert at this. Besides offereing me oxygen she also offered some to Pooh Bear. As you can tell by the smile on his face Pooh was most appreciative. The only time Milana got upset after her surgery was when she signed that she wanted to eat and I had to tell her no because they had her on a liquid diet before transitioning back to food. We have a follow up appointment next week at the ENT and are hoping that her hearing is now back to where it should be. Keep your fingers crossed and/or say a prayer that she can hear!

Is This Thing On???

We have recently discovered through an appt with the audiologist and an appt with the ENT that Milana has mild to moderate hearing loss. With that said we know that she CAN hear us when we talk to her. It is just that the quality of what she is hearing isn't what it could or should be. So the next step in helping her to hear better is for her to get tubes put in both ears. The ENT feels very strongly that this should resolve the problem. We are really hoping that it does as she can not be evaluated for special ed. preschool services until she passes her hearing test. This is very important because she really needs to be in school learning and socializing with her peers.

I know the pictures have nothing to do with the post. I just thought that they were cute. I just love the funny faces she makes. They crack me up. Hope you like them too.

Everybody Loves An IRISH Girl

Ok, ok so Milana is Ukranian. Fine. I'll give you that. However, that does not mean she can't be an Irish Girl :) She just loves that little Notre Dame leprechaun! Can you blame her? As you can see she also loves making silly faces. And no Kristin, it isn't because of the Notre Dame shirt. (I think she is actually wondering what it is I did to her hair).

Seriously, doesn't this little "irish" girl look fabulous in her ND shirt?? I know I am biased, but I certainly think so :)

Milana is quite the little cheerleader - cheering for Notre Dame of course. It seems football is one of her favorite things to watch. Football, Hockey, Golf, and Wizards of Waverly Place are the only things that seem to hold her attention. At least she isn't addicted to tv like some other family members are :)

GO IRISH!!!!

BFF's :)

I am so excited that Milana already has a bff. I can't wait til they have sleepovers and play dress up and all of that fun girlie stuff :)

For now they are just getting to know each other, playing, just chillin'

Aren't they so cute?? Wait til they start wearing their matching outfits. Talk about fun girlie stuff!

Can't you just tell how much they adore each other already. I mean really. A little pinch on the cheek...

A huge hug to tell you how much I love you my friend. Hope you don't mind if I jump on top of you while I'm at it :)

Aren't they just precious? I can only imagine all the trouble these two will get into together. Fun times ahead for all :)

Doing A Happy Dance :)

When I woke up last Saturday morning I had dreamt of children finding homes. One of those children was this sweet little boy Gage. Isn't he just handsome?? I found out today that Gage HAS A FAMILY!!! This is such fabulous news! This sweetheart of a boy is in the same orphanage that Milana was in. We were lucky enough to see him just about every day. He is so smart! His smile lights up a room! I can't wait to find out who his Mommy & Daddy are. They are so lucky to be bringing this amazing little boy home. Congratulations to Gage and his family!