Do You See What I See?

This is Leigha. She is a beautiful baby girl. Isn't she just adorable? I just want to pick her up and squeeze her. I want to hug her and hold her tight. This sweet peanut has Down Syndrome. She lives in an orphanage in Eastern Europe and she needs the love of a Mama & Papa. I bet she could learn so much with a good family to love her and care for her and teach her. Look at that face!!! This is Mason. Let me tell you how much I love this guy. Look at that smile! He is an amazing little boy - one minute all boy and raring to go and the next a little snuggle bug! Oh how I want him to find his family soon. He is so darling and smart and sweet! What a bright little boy. I wish I knew why he is still waiting for him Mama & Papa!

This is Jeremy. He is another sweetheart. Jeremy is full of energy and likes to help out. While at the orphanage he would help me push Milana in the stroller as we walked the grounds. He could barely reach the handles, but he just wanted to jump right in and help out. This little guy has been waiting a long time too. How long should he have to wait?

This is Eileen and boy is she cute! What else can I say? I just want to pick her up and give her a great big hug! She is probably wondering where her forever family is. I wish I could tell her they were on their way to her!

Look at little Miss Aurora. Isn't she just the cutest thing? This little peanut has Down Syndrome. I think everyone should have a little one with DS. What joy she would bring to a family. Think of all she could learn in the right environment!

Think about all the things ALL of these children could learn in the right environment. These children all have so much potential. They are waiting to shine and shine they will in a loving home with a Mommy and Daddy and maybe some siblings too.

Can you see how amazing these kiddos are? If you want to find out more information about these children or you would like to make a tax deductible donation towards their adoption (or any other child's adoption) please go to www.reecesrainbow.org.

Sweet Nikita

I'm really struggling with this. Yet another little RR angel has died. It is so unfair. It just breaks my heart that little Nikita is gone.

When I came across Reece's Rainbow a little over a year ago this face was one of the many I just fell in love with. Nikita just made my heart melt. I mean look at him. How could he not melt your heart? Now Nikita is gone. His Mommy and Daddy were working so hard to get him home. Yes, Nikita had a family. One who loved him very much. Now they are grieving for the son they will never get to hold. My heart goes out to them.

Nikita is now in heaven with all the other sweet RR angels that have lost their lives. He will not have to suffer anymore. I just wish his Mommy and Daddy had the chance to hold him - to hug him and kiss him and tell the they love him. I wish that these precious children ALL had homes...that they ALL had a Mama & a Papa to love them.

I wish I understood why these sweet angels lives were so short. We have lost too many angels in such a short time. We have lost too many period. We need to get these children home. We need to get them home now.

Got Mud?

As I mentioned in my last post it was a beautiful day yesterday. It did rain quite a bit which left a little puddle in our yard and some mud. Milana didn't notice the mud until she lost her balance walking to the driveway and landed in the mud. Soon after she noticed the mud puddle where she kept sticking her finger in it and digging around in the mud. Oooohhh this is fun!!!!

I have said time and time again Milana will eat anything. This now includes mud - YUM!!!

Besides licking the mud off her hands Milana thought it would be fun to run her muddy fingers through her hair. Apparently someone told her its good for those gorgeous locks. Milana also enjoyed showing off those muddy hands. I think she must have licked the mud off the clean hand because at one point they were both covered in mud!

All I can say was at least she had fun playing in the mud. I'm a little surprised she didn't dive head first into the puddle. Maybe she is saving that for another day.

A Beautiful Day

Today was such a gorgeous day. Nice and warm when I woke up this morning. It did rain, but we really needed it. By the time I got home from work it was just gorgeous - warm and sunny, windy too. It was about 71 degrees. Not bad for February!

Anybody want a flower? Riley gave it to me. Thanks Riley! Here Peyton, you smell it! After Milana got off the school bus we enjoyed some playtime outside. She loves rolling around in the grass :)

I can't believe how much her hair has grown. Milana looks so much older in this picture with the wind blowing her hair.

It looks like she is up to something. Hmmm....what could it be?? More on that later....

Isn't she so stinkin' cute??? It is so hard to remember what life was like without our newest addition. She brings so much joy and happiness to everyone she encounters.

The Heart Wants What The Heart Wants

I'm feeling a little sad and frustrated these days. I'm sure you can guess that money is partly to blame and this is true. I just want so badly to be able to bring home another precious angel. To some it may sound crazy - after all Milana has only been home for five months.

I'm not going to lie and say its always easy because its not. There are times where life is crazy and stressful and frustrating, but that is just life. It can be that way whether you have two kids, ten kids or no kids. Things are also amazing and fun and we are learning so much. Milana amazes us each and every day. She has taught us so much - the whole adoption process has taught us so much. (By us I mean not only Chris and I, but Riley, Peyton, and Karissa as well).

These days I have my eye on a precious little boy. He is so cute. I just love him. My girls LOVE him. I think Chris does too, but.....oh it all goes back to money. We all have bills and debt - well many of us do. The way I look at it is we still have more than this precious little one has.

My heart wants what my heart wants. I want a little boy. Milana would love a brother to play with. Karissa has been wanting a brother for years. Riley wants a brother. Peyton wants a brother.

There are so many orphans out there that need a Mommy & a Daddy. Here I am wanting to bring another angel home - why can't it be that easy???

I Hate Money

Hate is such a strong word, but when it comes to money I have to say that I honestly hate it. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. Money just makes me sick. It is the one thing that stands in the way of so many families stepping forward and adopting. That just breaks my heart.

Then when families do step up it seems they almost all end up having some sort of financial issue come up - their car breaks down, their house gets flooded, the washing machine breaks, etc. Every time I start to even think about adopting again something goes wrong. Ugh!

I want so badly for families adopting to not have to worry about the money. To be able to focus on just getting their paperwork done for their dossiers and getting to their child(ren). There are so many people in this world who make stupid amounts of money and they just spend it on things that don't really matter - new cars, million dollar clothes, houses with more rooms than they will ever need in a lifetime. If I had a house with twenty bedrooms I'd HAVE to fill it with twenty kids from Reece's Rainbow :)

I'm just so frustrated with money. If I had it right now I'd use it to help families bring their children home. I'd use it to go on mission trips to help children in orphanages, and help families understand that it is a great thing to keep their children with Down Syndrome. I'd want to help them see how amazing these children are. I'd help them know the love their child with down syndrome would bring them. And of course I'd adopt again. My four girls need some brothers :)

Helping A Friend

Isn't this little girl a cutie? This precious angel is listed as Heather on Reece's Rainbow. One day soon her Mommy and Daddy will name her Caroline. They are currently working on finishing up their dossier so that they can send it to Caroline's country as quickly as possible. I want to help them in some way and am hoping to come up with some clever fundraisers to help them do so. Currently my girls have set up some change jars so that whenever they find loose change (and they are always on the look out for loose change) they can save it to help bring Caroline home.

I have set up a donation box on my blog. It is linked to their Reece's Rainbow family support page. Any donations made to help bring Caroline home are tax deductible. If you feel you are able to make a donation to help them please do so. If you feel like sharing their story on your blog or facebook page please do that as well.

If you would like to follow their journey you can get to their blog by clicking this link http://oursweetcaroline2011.blogspot.com/. Let's all work together to help them bring their little girl home! If we all work together we can get so many of these amazing children home!
Thank you :)