Oh What Fun...

Milana has been enjoying Christmas and her time off from school with her family a great deal. She enjoys looking at the pictures of all of the "babies" on Reece's Rainbow. She gets so excited to see them. It is so hard to believe that she was one of those faces on there not too long ago. Now she has a home with a Mama and a Papa and 3 sisters! And let's not forget her 3 dogs who she loves and adores as well. This girl is surely loving life :)

Her sisters all enjoy having her home with us as well. Riley & Peyton love giving her baths and helping get her dressed. I think they like playing with her toys as much as she does! We got a lot of snow for....well for North Carolina on Christmas Night. Milana and all three of her sisters enjoyed sledding down the hill in the front yard.

Weeeeeeee!!!! This is lots of fun!!! Can we do it again?? Please!!!

I'd say this little girl who was once one of those left behind is enjoying NOT being left behind any longer. In fact she makes sure she is never left out. She loves life! This amazing little girl has grown so much in the short time she has been home. And we are all loving that she is now a part of our family.

Milana's First Christmas

We had a really wonderful Christmas this year - minus the fact that I got sick Christmas night and am just starting to feel better. (And now Chris is sick).

Other than the illness that is spreading through our house like wildfire we had a great day. On Christmas Eve we went to our friends house for their annual Christmas Eve Party. Milana enjoyed the party very much. She made sure we stayed in the room with the food :)

She had a blast munching away and of course got upset with me if I tried to eat. Even with a big cookie in her mouth she decided the carrot I was eating would be tastier. Fortunately she likes fruits and veggies as well as the sweet stuff!

We also went to church Christmas Eve and it was jam packed. The evening finished up with some Chinese food at home. I had hoped we would go out and have someone sing to us like on A Christmas Story - no duck thank you very much, but we stayed home and ate. Then we watched some Christmas shows - Santa Claus is Coming To Town and sent the small kiddos off to bed. Milana first followed by Riley and Peyton. Karissa stayed up a bit longer with Chris and I to watch Christmas Vacation. Oh that Cousin Eddie just crack me up :) When Christmas morning arrived Milana was a little unsure of all that was going on. Peyton & Riley were of course THRILLED that Santa had come to visit them during the night. They woke everyone up and as you can see from the pictures Milana really got in to opening presents. She eventually started opening anything in sight - regardless of whether or not the gift was for her. So some things we weren't sure who they were from or if they were for Peyton or Riley. Regardless we were all so thankful for all the wonderful gifts we received this year. (Including our newest addition to the family - Queen Fussy Butt aka Milana).

Milana also seemed to think that as she opened gifts she was supposed to try them on. I hadn't realized she was such a fashion diva. You gotta love the RUN DMC shirt she is rockin'. Wait til you see the sweet Puma sweat suit she got. This girl is going to be stylin' for sure! I love this picture below where she is holding the picture of Theo who we are Chrismas Warriors for. Our goal (which by the way we are falling incredibly short of) is to raise money for him during the holiday season in hopes that he will find a family and they will have some of the burden of the huge cost removed. We do hope that Theo finds a family and is able to celebrate Christmas with them next year.

What a beautiful picture of my 3 youngest little ones. (My oldest is a bit camera shy and my gift to her today is to not post her picture - it won't last I've got some good ones of her in the snow sledding in our front yard).

These 3 angels each picked out a kiddo (Milana with my help) to send some money to Andrea at Reece's Rainbow as a gift to a child in need of a home.

It's not too late for you to donate to Theo to help him find a forever family or to donate to any of the kids in need of a family. Feel free to browse the website www.reecesrainbow.org and donate to any child or children you feel led to helping out. Or of course donate to Theo and help us raise money for him as well. You can mail your check to Andrea Roberts c/o Reece's Rainbow P.O. Box 4024 Gaithersburg, MD 20885.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and that none of you get this nasty bug that I had.

First Snow - A Week Late

We got our first snow of the year last Saturday. Riley & Peyton were so thrilled and couldn't wait to get outside to play in it. Milana really seemed to enjoy her first snow in the USA! As for me...we've had the first snow, it was pretty, and I hope it is our last! I prefer the warmer weather.

The Day After Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving at our house means that it is time to decorate for Christmas. This year was extra special because of our new addition. If you are new to this blog then you may be asking yourself - new addition? What are you talking about? If you aren't new to this blog then of course you know that our new addition is Milana. We made this day a fun and lazy sort of day. We stayed in our pj's all day and just had a blast decorating. Milana got into the festivities as well and hammed it up a bit (as usual).

I'm not sure what she had planned out here. She just decided at one point to climb up onto the stool and kept trying to open the bin. Apparently we weren't moving fast enough for this little busy body!

This was her only attempt at hanging an ornament on the tree. Unfortunately it was unsuccessful. It dropped right to the floor. Of course it didn't phase her. She did have fun sitting on the floor and hanging the ornaments on her wrist.

I am so happy that Milana is here with us. She brings so much joy to our family. The thought of her or any child spending time in an orphanage without a family is just so heartbreaking. Just today Andrea Roberts - executive director of Reece's Rainbow www.reecesrainbow.org added at least 100 new children with Down Syndrome to the website. All of them in the same region.

I have to believe if there are that many children in one region there must be many, many more that we are unaware of in other regions. These children All need loving families. They need to get out of the places they are currently in. They need a family so they can blossom.

Look at our super cutie who we just brought home a couple short months ago. She has already had her first Thanksgiving, decorated her first Christmas Tree, and started school. All things she has NEVER done and would NEVER get to do. School would be most unheard of for a child with special needs!

I would like to ask any of you out there to consider making a donation to an orphan this holiday season to help bring them home. I would love for it to be my little Theo who I am trying to raise money towards his adoption fund so that he may find a family soon. If it is not Theo please consider donating to an Angel on the Angel Tree http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=angel+tree&x=13&y=18. The cost of bringing home a child is very expensive. There are so many families out there that want to adopt, but are unable to because of the cost. All donations made to Reece's Rainbow are tax deductible.

You will also be able to say you helped bring a child home. I can tell you from experience how greatful their future families will be for your support. I will never be able to thank all the people who helped us bring Milana home enough. Without the support we got from friends and family and anonymous donors we would not have Milana here with us today. So thank you to all who helped us! And thank you to all those who have helped other families and children!

The First Day Story...

Milana must have known something was up last night as it took her forever to fall asleep. At 9:30 last night she was still fussing in bed. Then this morning we got a 5:45 a.m. wake up call. (Which we ignored until she started to scream). When I went into her room there she was sitting up with her finger stuck to her head. She had been twirling her hair and her finger was literally stuck to her head. What a sight!

For most of the morning my poor sweetie was tired and cranky. As I was trying to get everyone out the door she cried and cried. We did manage to get some cute pics of her w/her backpack on.

Peyton and Riley went with me this morning to bring Milana to school. When it was time for the three of us to leave Milana gave us all kisses and hugs and waived goodbye to us. Fortunately she did not shed a tear!

All day long I waited on pins and needles to find out about her day. When I got to school to pick her up she was outside playing. As soon as she saw me her face lit up and she came waddling over to me with her arms extended and gave me a great big hug.

After I got my hug she headed back towards the playground. She went straight towards the sand box. Oh how I hate the sandbox! When we were in Ukraine she would sit in the sandbox and every now and again she'd eat a handful of sand. YUCK!!!!

I managed to keep her out of the sandbox and told her we had to go. I don't think she was happy about that. The poor thing was torn. She wanted me and she wanted to play on the playground as well. Eventually she decided to come with me. So we headed inside her classroom, packed up, and headed out.

On the way out of the building this adorable little kindergarten kid told me my baby was really cute. I told him that she went to school there too and he couldn't believe it. He asked me if he could touch her. When I told him yes he put his hand on her arm ever so lightly. It was so cute!

The note from Milana's teacher said that she had a good day - that she was calm. Wait til she gets comfortable. This kid is good at pretending she is quiet and calm. She is LOUD and BUSY!!! Apparently she didn't nap, but stayed on her cot. She also didn't eat all of her lunch which is very surprising. She must have been in shock or something.

Chris and I are just so excited she is in school where she can be with other children and learn. This is so good for her! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings :)

First Day of School Pics....

More First Day of Pre-School Pics