Milana Loves Me & Other Random Thoughts

First I want to wish this sweet little guy a very Happy Birthday! This is Mason and he is just the sweetest little boy. He is all boy and at the same time could sit quietly just taking things in. He spent his birthday in an orphanage. Oh how I wish his family would find him soon! Did I mention what a sweetheart Mason is? Mason turned 4 years old today. Sounds like it should be a happy day, but turning 4 when living in an orphanage means it is time to go to the institution. Mason may not have long before he is transferred. PLEASE someone bring him home!Speaking of birthdays...today would have been my husband's father's birthday if he were still alive. He would have been 68 years old. We did celebrate Grandpa Stan's birthday with the girls by having a shamrock cookie cake which the girls enjoyed very much. They even sang a quick Happy Birthday before scarfing down their cookie cake!

I did find out what it was all over Milana's clothes on Friday. The kids were making a pinata out of paper mache for their International Festival on Friday. The teachers told all the children when their parents ask them what is all over them to tell them paper mache.

Although Milana is one of the noisiest kids I've ever met in my life she is pretty much non-verbal so she couldn't tell us what was on her :) Oh well. It was fun trying to guess!

Now for the most exciting thing of the day! We have been working on sign language with Milana and over the last month she has been putting two and three signs together (hooray). Most times when she does this she'll tell me I want food. (This drives me bonkers)!

Anyway, Chris had been signing I love Mommy with her for a while. Shortly after I came in the room he left. She and I "chatted" and I signed I love you to her. A little while later I was talking to her and she heard me say I. She then signed I (and said it - she can say hi, I, bye). So I waited and again she signed and said I and then signed love you! She did it on her own like four or five times without me doing it first! Isn't that just the cutest, sweetest, and most amazing thing??? I certainly think so!

Do You Like Starbucks Or Dunkin Donuts? Then this is the right place for you :)

I am doing a give away to help bring Caroline home to her Mommy, Daddy, and brothers. For every $5 donation through the chip in on my blog your name will be entered for a chance to win one of four prizes. There are 2 Dunkin Donuts gift cards each worth $25. There are also 2 Starbucks gift cards also worth $25 each.

Please consider helping the Goodman's bring Caroline home. They are a wonderful family and are so excited about bringing their sweet girl home! Your donations will go directly to Reece's Rainbow and are 100% tax deductible!

Thank you so much for helping them!

Any Guesses???

Milana comes home from school messy every day. Not a big deal. She's 3. Kids are supposed to get dirty. I totally get that. Yesterday she came home with the shirt she went to school in so messy it was in a bag and they had to change her. The pants she had on were still on her, but covered in....something.

So I was thinking we could play a game. Any takers? It's called guess what is all over Milana's clothes. Keep in mind I have no clue what she was covered in. I don't know what it was or how it got all over her as it did. It looks like she was literally rolling around in something. Cute outfit huh? (Minus the mess of course).

No clue how she got that white stuff all over the back of her pants. She had to have sat in it, rolled in it, maybe even dumped it over the top of her head. (Yes, it was also in her hair).

As Milana's sleeves were white it is hard to see just how filthy her sleeves were, but I promise you they were filthy, had a reddish tint, and also VERY crusty!This is her shirt up close. Any ideas yet? All I can say is I am not spending money on nice clothes for this kiddo to go to school in. I'll have to save those for when she is outside rolling around in the mud :)

So....guess away on what it is AND what how it got there.

The Post You Have All Been Waiting For...

The title of this post is obviously inaccurate. The only person who has been waiting for this post is Kristin. Sorry it took so long Kristin! I forgot to bring my camera to the game and then couldn't figure out how to get the pictures I took with my phone onto my computer. (Sad, but true).

Wednesday night we took Milana to her very first Carolina Hurricanes game. We were worried that it might be too loud for her and were quite surprised that none of the noise bothered her. Milana had a fabulous time at the game. She loved the noise - the music, the people. She was high fiving people whenever the Canes scored. She yelled in excitement, threw her arms up in the air, screamed, shouted, etc. She loved when they sang "Let's Go Canes!"

I wish I had a video of her and how much fun she had! We got there early and they showed her on the jumbo tron which she thought was so cool.

Unfortunately the Canes lost in overtime that night, but we all had fun regardless. Can't wait to take Miss Milana to her next game!!!

I heard a rumor she wanted season tickets for next year! I'm pretty sure Chris would love that too :)

I'm thinking her next game she needs to have her BFF with her! Those two mini caniacs would have a blast together!

One Year Ago...

One year ago we made a commitment to adopt a little girl. We didn't know much about this little girl other than she had Down Syndrome. Many people questioned WHY we would want to bring home a child with Down Syndrome. I don't know that there was really a reason. I don't know that we ever saw her as a little girl with DS. We saw her as a little girl who needed a family. Turns out we needed her more than she needed us.

We spent the next few months on a major paper chase - collecting all sorts of documents so that we could send them to her country. I can't begin to explain what a life changing journey this has been. It has opened our eyes to things we (sadly) did not know much about. Now that our eyes are opened....it's difficult to go back to life as we knew it.

If you think you could bring home a child that has no Mommy or Daddy - if you have room in your home and most importantly in your heart - I say go for it. The newest cars and clothes aren't what count. Saving the life of a child matters so much more.

I am so glad that a year ago we commited to bring home Milana. She is sweet, adorable, fussy, frustrating, loving, and just so amazing. She has brought so much love to our home and changed all of our lives for the better.

Connecting the Rainbow - Mission Trip

This year the Connecting the Rainbow Team will be spending World Down Syndrome Day in Sofia, Bulgaria where they have some pretty amazing things going on. There will be a team of Reece's Rainbow folks as well as various therapists on hand to speak at this conference.

These folks will be speaking to parents and orphanage directors. They are working to empower those parents who CHOOSE to keep their child(ren). That is a pretty amazing thing for these parents. They are opening doors to others to do the same, but they need our help.

In order to make this spectacular event happen Connecting the Rainbow needs donations. These donations help pay for therapists to come and speak at this event, for educational tools, therapuetic toys, translation of documents etc. For more information on this event or to donate go to http://www.connectingtherainbow.net/.

Help Spread The Word

It always amazes me to see good people doing good things. There are so many people in this world who make millions and millions of dollars and they just want more, more, more. Then there are those that don't care about fancy cars, having the newest clothes, or even about having all sorts of pretty jewels and rings.

One such person I know is Sarah. She is a part of the RR group and has done quite a bit to help others bring home their little one. Sarah even gave up her engagement ring to help bring someone else's little guy home. She raffled it off in order to help another family raise the funds they needed for their adoption. What a selfless act of giving to another!

Now it is Sarah's turn and she needs our help. Right now Sarah is trying to raise the initial funds to try to commit to a child. My friend Mel is doing some fundraisers/give aways to help Sarah with those funds. I'd love for you to hop over to Mel's blog http://www.thejoyofwhatis.blogspot.com/ and check out what she is doing to help Sarah. She is giving away two custom made scrapbooks. You don't have to do any of the work - just supply the pictures! What an amazing deal!

If you aren't able to make a donation maybe you could help spread the word. Crosspost on your blog, your facebook page, twitter, etc. Let's get the word out about the people in this world who are doing good things. Lets help them out. See if we do more good in this world :)