In Loving Memory...

This morning I found out some terrible, terrible news. This beautiful little girl - Sandra - has died. The thought of this little girl not ever having the love of a Mommy & Daddy or a sister or brother just hurts me more than I can even begin to explain. While in Eastern Europe we were very fortunate to see Sandra. How I wish I had the chance to go and give her a hug and tell her how much she was loved. I bet she didn't know that there were many people out there who had never met her, but loved her so much. I loved her! How I wish we could have brought her home with us. I'm so sorry sweet girl.

People have said to me that you just can't save them all. I'm sure you have heard this time and time again as well. I'm not sure I believe that. We certainly can't if we don't try. We can't save them if we just sit in our homes and ignore the fact that there are many children living all over the world that need love, need homes, and need medical care.

These children need you. They need me. They need all of us. What are you going to do to make sure this doesn't happen again? I know that once my eyes were opened to these children a year ago my life just hasn't been the same. My children's lives haven't been the same. The change is for the better.

This poem was written by my friend Summer's daughter. She wrote it after she found out about Sandra. It is a beautiful poem.

In the night sky a lost star was born
Unfortunately in an era when love was worn
She waited her turn to finally shine
But was only shown one bright line
HE gave her the choice to choose her light
And she accepted at last one fine night
The cold world lost another soul
And sweet Sandra had to pay the toll
HE told her she had one task to take on
To shine her brightest when the world turned dawn
The lost star was no more lost, but now found
In a paradise of love, with love's only sound

We will never forget you Sandra. You are a precious little angel who will be missed by many! Rest in peace sweet girl!

Anybody Up For A Swim??

I really need to start carrying my camera around with me at ALL times. I really do! I say this often, but I never have it with me. Even if I did I am bound to miss those really hysterical moments anyway.

Today was one of those days that I so wished I had my camera on me. You see this cute girl pictured below. Well... she was up to no good this evening and I totally missed catching it. Usually while I make dinner Milana sits on a stool near the big freezer and waits. Sometimes patiently, but most times not. As I got dinner ready tonight I noticed her standing against a wall. I wasn't sure why she was standing there or what was going through her head. I wish I knew what she was thinking, but I don't. The next thing I hear is a splash. I turn and look and there is Milana still standing against the wall, but with her foot in the dogs water dish.

My first thought is to run and grab the camera to catch this moment so I have it to look back on forever. I can clean up the ocean that is now on my floor later. Chris is standing there trying so hard not to look at her as he is cracking up laughing. Finally I give in and go pull her out of the dog dish. She is soaked from her foot up to her thigh.

I have no clue what would posess her to do that. She sees the dogs drink out of that dish. She helps us pour water into that dish for the dogs. I guess I should have seen it coming. Come to think of it not 10 minutes before that she stuck her foot in one of the food dishes. Oh well. It sure was funny.

On another note Milana is (obviously) starting to feel better. She still has a horrible cough complete with lots of phlegm and a very runny nose. Fortunately her fever has been gone for 2 days now. Although that had been the case prior to Sunday night when her fever spiked back up to 103 degrees.

Now Riley and Peyton are sick. They both have fevers and a terrible cough. On top of that these really cute girls have headaches and stomachaches. Oh and let's not forget the sore throats. They are both just wiped out - completely exhausted.

This year we have all been off to a rough start. It seems we've all been fighting illness since Christmas. Hopefully once we all get rid of this junk we can keep sickness at bay for a little while. I don't think Peyton and Riley have missed this much school in....well ever.

I can't wait for everyone to feel better. Hopefully it is sooner rather than later. In the meantime at least we have Milana to entertain us by going for a swim in the dog dish :) Never a dull moment at this house...NEVER!!!

The House of Sick

I feel like my house is infested with illness lately. Over the Christmas Break I came down with a terrible stomach bug and was sick for days. Then Chris got it (after insisting he wouldn't get it). We thought we were in the clear when a few more days went by and the girls hadn't gotten it yet. Of course we were wrong. Riley ended up with it too.

Yesterday both Riley and Peyton stayed home sick. They both had a headache and a stomachache. Poor things. I was so excited this morning when both girls were feeling better.

Then I went in to get Milana dressed and ready for school. When I picked her up she felt really warm. She had a temperature of about 101. Poor thing. This is the first time she has been sick since she came home four months ago. (Can you believe its been 4 months already)?? Since I had to bring the girls to school this morning she had to make the trip in with me. We stayed for a while so I could do a few things before bringing her back home. Today was the worst day for me to stay home. We were fortunate enough to have my mother in law be able to come stay with her from mid morning on.

Little Miss Milana slept on and off ALL day. So she must really not be feeling well as she generally doesn't like to miss a trick.

Not sure why this picture decided to turn sideways, but this was her attempt at being silly even though she isn't feeling well. Every now and then she will pretend her finger hurts, touch it, and then start whining and give me a hug. She is SUCH a faker and does this quite a bit. Not sure why. It is really funny though. I should probably discourage it, but it does crack me up. So I just keep hugging her and telling her "You poor baby. Give Mommy a hug!" She cracks up at that!

I hope she starts to feel better soon. Poor thing is really burning up. I can't stand it when any of my girls are sick :(

Hopefully she'll be feeling better soon and everyone stays healthy for a while. Poor baby!!! I just want to snuggle her non-stop!

About This Time Last Year...

It was about this time last year when I came across a website www.reecesrainbow.org. Just days after that first big earthquake devestated Haiti Chris & I were talking about all those people who lost their lives. We talked about all the children who lost their families. We so wanted to help those children.

I remember him saying how he would bring 2 0r 3 home if he could. My first thought was how wonderful it would be to bring these children into our home. Then I realized that I could NEVER leave the girls for an extended period of time. I had never been away from them for longer than a one night sleepover. The thought scared me, but at the same time I felt the need to look into adoption for the first time in my life.

When we got home that night I googled adoption and found Reece's Rainbow. From that night on Riley, Peyton, and I looked at that website EVERY night before bed. We got to know and love all the beautiful faces on there. (Milana was not on there at this time).

The girls and I would talk about which children we wanted to bring home - ALL of them of course :) As children got commitments from families we did happy dances for each one of them. At this time we weren't looking to adopt - at least not officially. The green light to choose a child didn't come just yet. That didn't stop us from looking and getting to know all th0se cute little faces.

Great News!!!

I meant to post yesterday, but got really busy with life and just didn't get a chance. The boy that I posted about the other day - Davids - HAS a family!!! This is amazing news. I think it was within 48 hours of getting the word out about Davids situation that he had a family. There were a couple of families that were interested in adopting this amazing young man.

There have also been several donations made to help this family which will be a HUGE help to them. It is difficult to raise funds for an adoption and they have to move quickly on his behalf.

If you want to read more detailed information about Davids and everything that is going on please visit this blog http://iwillbeacarrier.blogspot.com/. I believe it also tells you how to make a donation if you feel that is something you would like to do to help out Davids and his new family.

I am just truly excited for this family and for Davids. I can't wait to find out who they are! What a happy day for everyone involved :)

Urgent Need!!!

While on facebook this morning I came across a link to another blog. As I read the story I cried for this boy. He is such a beautiful boy with hopes and dreams for a brighter future. He had a family - or so he thought. Unfortunately, his family backed out of the adoption. Now he has only days to find a family or he will be turned away from his orphanage and left to survive the streets.

http://iwillbeacarrier.blogspot.com/2011/01/davids-story-urgent-need.html

This truly breaks my heart. I can't bear the thought of a child not only not having a family, but not having any shelter or food. It breaks my heart that there are so many orphans in the world. So many children suffering.

Please help spread the word about Davids. You may know someone who knows someone who just could be his Forever Family.

Nacho Libre or The Incredible Hulk?

In the last couple of weeks Milana has begun doing some interesting things. In an effort to keep her from doing one of those things we decided to see if we can change her wardrobe a bit. So...in an effort to keep Milana from unzipping her pj's every morning, opening up her diaper, and exploring its contents we've changed her pj's a bit. First I put her onesie on backwards. Then I cut the feet off her jammies and put those on her backwards as well. She is pretty bright and generally doesn't miss a trick so she was a little stumped as to what I was doing.

I am really just hoping that she can't figure out how to unzip her jammies if they are on backwards. And...if she does I'm really hoping it is too much work for her to unsnap her backwards onesie. Bottom line is that I REALLY, REALLY hope that this works!!!

Drastic times call for drastic measures. It gets pretty exhausting having to jump out of bed the second you hear Milana stirring just to be sure she isn't getting into things. Then there are the times where she is too quiet that the silence is what wakes you. You think you're safe, but in reality you still didn't get to her fast enough. I'm not sure about you, but there are some surprises I just don't need to wake up to! Did I mention that I am really hoping this works? Aside from the obvious I did also cut the feet off a really cute pair of pj's :)

So...does she look like Nacho Libre with those jammies or The Incredible Hulk?

New Year's Fun

We had a lovely day yesterday with the exception of Riley getting sick and Milana...well I'm not even going to go there. It isn't a story for anyone with a weak stomach. Regardless we had a great day yesterday. It was not only New Year's Eve, but for us it was game day. Any guesses what team we were rooting for? Peyton had come across a stuffed bear while decorating the house for the game and took off his hat and glasses so of course everyone had to try them on. Here is Riley styling in her fancy hat and glasses.

Now for Peyton's turn. They really thought it was such fun and it put a smile on Riley's face which was nice since she wasn't feeling super great.

Milana really enjoyed her little dress up session. She especially enjoys game day as we tend to have tons of snacks and if you know Milana you know how much she loves to eat :)

In case you are wondering Notre Dame did beat Miami - YAY!!! Hopefully this year will be a good one for the Irish and most importantly a good year for all of us and all of you! Happy New Year!!! Hope it is a healthy and happy one for all.

Oh and this is for you Kristin - I hope Penn State beats Florida! Happy New Year my friend!!!