All I Want For Christmas...

There are so many kids out there who don't have a Mommy or a Daddy. Many of these kids are sitting in orphanages around the world. Why are they there? Some because their parents found out they had Down Syndrome and gave them up just because they are different. It is so sad!

Most of these children are transferred from their Baby House at age 4 or 5 to an adult Mental Institution. Two of these children who have already been transferred are Spencer and Brent. Please consider making a donation to their adoption funds and help their forever families find them.

You can donate to Spencer by clicking here:
http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=spencer
If you make a donation of $35 or more you will get a beautiful ornament with his picture on it!



If you would like to donate to Brent's adoption fund click on the link below:
http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=brent
Remember that a donation of at least $35 will get you an ornament with his picture on it.



I would love for you to consider donating to Spencer or Brent or any other child listed on Reece's Rainbow. www.reecesrainbow.org

Without the generous donations of many we would never have been able to bring Milana home to our family. She is truly a blessing to us all. Please help those who have been left behind. They deserve a home too.

And if you are wondering what I want for Christmas - I would LOVE Spencer and Brent. So if you would like to give me those sweet boys I would truly appreciate it. If not...a donation to their grant fund and helping spread the word so that they can find their Mommy & Daddy would be awesome!

Guess Who Went To The Movies For The Very First Time???

You guessed it!!! Milana went to the movies today for the very first time.


We all went to see The Muppet Movie - which was really cute!


Milana LOVED it! We were pleasantly surprised at how well behaved she was. The only time she needed to be taked out of the theater was for a potty break :)

On the way home from the movies she kept signing tv in hopes of getting some more tv time once we got home. We read for awhile and then Daddy put on the Canes game and our little Caniac went nuts!!! What can I say...the girls loves her hockey!

Manomana!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWWbSfn7Ad4&noredirect=1

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have so much to be thankful for this year (and every year). Here are some of the reasons I am thankful....

I am also thankful for Karissa. I'd love to have a picture of her here, but those are hard to come by. For some reason she doesn't like to get her picture taken anymore. I don't know where she gets that from.

Hope everyone had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Milana

We started looking at cakes for Milana's birthday several weeks ago. As we were flipping through the cake book we came across a cake that looked similiar to the one below. When Milana saw it she went nuts. You see this girl is a HUGE hockey fan! She LOVES her Carolina Hurricanes. We couldn't tell at first whether or not she wanted the Hurricanes cake or a Tinker Bell cake so we put the pictures side by side and Milana made her choice. Carolina Hurricanes for this birthday girl!


Milana loved when we sang Happy Birthday to her. She has a couple of books with birthday cakes and parties in them and we spent pretty much EVERY day this summer singing "Happy Birthday." By the end of the summer I was hiding the books so I wouldn't have to sing Happy Birthday anymore. I'm not kidding when I say we sang it at least 100 times a day every day the entire summer.



Mmmmmmmm........this cake is soooooooooooooo YUMMY!!!! I get to eat the ENTIRE piece!!! YUM!!!!!!!!!

Look at all this yummy frosting. Want a lick?

Yes Mom! I did swallow all the cake in my mouth. So can I have more cake now???

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Gotcha Day - Then & Now

Milana September 8, 2010
This was the very last time Milana was in her orphanage. Just minutes after this picture was taken we said our final teary goodbyes to the caretakers and then we were on our way.

Milana Sept. 8, 2010 at our apartment in Lugansk.

Milana Sept. 8, 2010 - Exploring our apartment and probably wondering where in the world am I and when is this lady going to bring me back home :(

Milana September 8, 2011

My how she has grown :)

Doesn't she look so big....and HAPPY!!!!

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary Milana :)

Where Does The Time Go?

It just occurred to me that one year ago today our 10 day waiting period had ended and the race to get Milana out of her orphanage once and for all began. Violetta, Sasha, & I began our running around to get the paperwork we needed such as her Certificate of Adoption and her new Birth Certificate.

Unfortunately since it took all day to get just those 2 items I wasn't able to get Milana out of the orphanage that same day.

So...do you know what that means?? It means tomorrow is our 1 year Gotcha Day Anniversary!!! Yay!!

Here is a cute Milana picture from our vacation in July :)

Milana's First Day of School

Milana was so excited this morning when she woke up and I told her she was going to school. The first thing she signed was bus. This girl loves to ride the bus.

Bye Montana! I'm going to miss you today!



I'll miss you too Bailey. Thanks for keeping me company while I wait (and wait) for the bus to come.

Milana got tired of waiting inside for the bus so we moved things outside where she continued to wait.

Oh goodie...my sisters are keeping me company while I wait for the bus.

The bus finally came and Milana got to sit next to her best friend Nadia. When Milana got on the bus and saw Nadia she was so excited! I'm sure she was even more psyched once they got to school and were in the same class. (Those poor teachers - talk about trouble)!

My parents got Milana off the bus today and said she was so happy! When I got home she was screaming with delight and gave me a great big hug! I guess she had a good 1st day of school.

Aren't these girls just the cutest? Peyton and Riley were thrilled to see Milana when they got home and find out how her day was.

Milana loves her big sisters....

and of course they love her too!

Busy Weekends

The last couple of weekends have been extremely busy. This weekend I helped out at an adoption conference. I brought the girls to help out. They were great helpers. Milana was too. She was super cute and everyone who saw her loved her. Hopefully seeing her will help some people see that adopting a child with Down Syndrome is such a blessing!

Last weekend I went to San Antonio for the NDSC. It was so awesome! I just can't even describe how amazing it was.

While there I got to attend some workshops and hang out at the Reece's Rainbow table. I got to meet a bunch of Reece's Rainbow families which is always fun.


I got to meet this gorgeous RR cutie. We became instant best buds. Seriously, this girl is a LOVE bug!!! Her Mom is awesome too by the way! I just loved getting to meet the entire Burman crew! Talk about amazing people!!!


These were my roomies for the weekend. Rachel and I had a blast getting lost together. Evie is just adorable...don't you think?



Michelle and Jessica goofing around at the RR table :)

Andrea & Shelley. Shelley's crew was there too. Her kids are so stinkin' cute and funny too.

Jen & Michelle working hard!

The convention was such a great time. Next year it is in Washington DC. Right now my plan is to bring the girls. They would have really enjoyed the convention - all of them.

I have more pictures to post. I tried and tried to get more on here, but blogger was super slow so I finally gave up.

And The Winner Is....

Okay...I'm going to make you wait for just another minute to find out who the winner is. First I want to thank each and everyone who donated to and/or spread the word about our Ipad2 giveaway. We appreciate all of your support. You are all amazing. Thank you so much!

I guess you want to know who the winner is now. I'm sorry that all of you couldn't win. I truly am. So your winner of the Ipad2+wifi is............................................................................................................................are you ready???.............................okay I'm tired so your winner is:

Andrew Brockhuas!!!!

Congratulations Andrew!!!

Ipad 2 Giveaway - Only 3 days left!!!

Just wanted to post a quick reminder that there are only 3 days left in our Ipad 2 + wifi giveaway. I am so grateful to those of you who have donated and continued to spread the word. We couldn't have gotten this far without you. PLEASE continue to spread the word. I'd love for us to meet our goal. Remember...ONLY 3 days left!!!

Donations can be made by clicking on the chipin on the left. Donations are NOT tax deductible.

$10 = 1 entry
$20 = 4 entries
$50 = 10 entries
$100 = 25 entries

You can also get an entry by posting about our giveaway on your blog, facebook, and/or twitter. Please just leave me a comment telling me where you posted and how to find it.

Thank you so much for ALL of your help and support! Good luck to everyone!

More Beach Pics...

Sea Turtle Nest

These girls LOVE the ocean!

Cape Hatteras Light House

Peyton, Milana, and Riley clowning around.

British Cemetery

Okracoke Lighthouse

Peyton, Riley, and Milana with their Daddy :)

Me & my girls

My beach girls

I'm ready to go back to the beach now!