Ipad Mini Giveaway!!!

We are getting to a place with our adoption where we really need to start kicking our fundraising into high gear. Our HS is just about finished which means the next step will be to send our USCIS application in (once the homestudy is complete). Once we get our USCIS approval we will have to get more fingerprints done. When we have final approval we can send our dossier to Danny and Riley's country. (These are not their real names).

In order to raise funds we decided that perhaps an Ipad Mini Giveaway might be fun. I have a brand new unopened Ipad mini (white) 16 gb with wifi  just waiting to be sent to the lucky winner.

Here's how you can enter. Simply go to our fsp www.reecesrainbow.org/sponsorwojcik or click the picture of Danny at the top right of this blog. It will bring you directly to our fsp. Your donations made through our fsp are tax deductible.

You will receive the following number of entries:

$10=1

$20=3

$50=10

$100=50

$500 = 200

$1000 = 500

Sharing=FREE entry!!! The more you share, the more entries you will receive!!

Sharing on FB, Twitter or your blog will get you an entry. Just leave a comment below telling where you shared this fundraiser and your name will be entered.

This giveaway will end on May 4, 2013.

Thank you so much for your support! We really appreciate it! 

Today Was A Good Day

Today was a really fun day. We went to the mall to meet Lauren Potter from Glee. While there we figured we had to go to the Disney Store because...well we were at the mall and the Disney Store is fun. So we get to the Disney Store just as they are opening it up. The two women working there come up to us and ask the girls if they want to open the store.

 It was really cute! The ladies asked the girls if they knew any magic words. They tried all the magic words they could think of Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo, Please, Thank you, etc. Finally they tried "Let the magic begin" and the store opened up. They all really loved it. They gave Milana a lanyard with Mickey Mouse on it.

 When we first got to the mall we waited patiently to meet Lauren Potter from Glee. Milana of course upon hearing that we were meeting someone from Glee started signing "Glee!" She kept asking to sing kareoke. (Milana is the only one in the house who will play Glee Kareoke with me. If Karissa stops by she will play it with me too).

 While waiting our turn to meet Lauren a really sweet woman told me that Milana reminded her of Lauren when she was little. Turns out that sweet woman was Lauren's Mom. I got to tell her a little bit of Milana's story - that she was adopted from Ukraine 2 1/2 years ago. I told her about our upcoming adoption. It was pretty neat. I really wished I could have talked with her more.

 When Milana walked towards Lauren the first thing she said was "Ohhhh!!!! She is so adorable!!" I love the way Milana and Lauren would look at each other. Lauren's mother told us to remember this moment when Milana is on tv! Milana certainly has the personality for all of that!

It truly was an amazing day. It was great to get to meet a tv star. It was even greater to meet at tv star who just happens to rock the same extra designer gene as my little Mila! Makes me realize that all the advocating that we have done for her in the 2 1/2 years since she has been home is more than worth it. She can and will do whatever she puts her mind to - oh wait...she already does that :)

On another note...we are working on the details of our ipad mini give away. Hoping to have a post up on that in the next couple of days. We would love your prayers and any support you are able to give - whether it be donating, sharing, etc. Thank you so much!

Snow In The South

Last weekend it snowed. It isn't the type of snow I grew up with in NY, but it was enough to make the girls VERY happy! They had so much fun playing outside in the cold, wet, stuff. YUCK!                                        

 Milana was packing snowballs and throwing them like a pro. Long after the girls headed indoors Milana was still pretending to pack and throw snowballs at everyone. (Not sure why the pictues turned this way).

 I could not get this girl to leave her hat and mittens on. Not even the hood. I could hear the caretakers at the orphanage yelling at me from thousands of miles away! LOL!

Friends Are Blessings

I have been contemplating what to write for this post for the last two days. I feel like every time I think I have the right words I lose them. It's important for me to get the words right because I want the people I am dedicating this post to know just how much they mean to not only me, but my entire family.

You see when we first started out adopting Milana we gained many amazing new friends. One such friend and her family live about 2 miles from our house. I met her three years ago when she showed up on my doorstep one day out of the blue with an outfit for Milana. She also bought a matching outfit for the little girl she was adopting. Since coming home Milana and Nadia have become BFF's.

Not only have Kristin and I become good friends, but our children have become close as well. Kristin's daughter Josi recently had her birthday party and invited Riley & Peyton. They were so excited to go to Josi's party and they had a blast. When it was time to come home they were so disappointed :(

Josi is an amazing young lady. You see, instead of asking for anything for her birthday Josi collected "Dollars for Danny" in order to help us bring our son home! When I heard that Josi was doing this I of course cried because I am afterall a crier. I told Chris about this right away and he agreed that our friends and their children were amazing! We can't thank them enough for all of their love, support, and prayers.

When I got to their house to pick the girls up from Josi's house yesterday she hugged me and told me that she prays for Danny every night. As if collecting money to help bring him home isn't a big enough gift this sweet, sweet girl is praying for him to come home! Josi you are such a gift!!! Thank you so much for helping us! Thank you to your Mom and Dad for being so amazing! I love you crazy girl!!!

Exciting News!!!

It feels like it has been an eternity since I last blogged. I can’t figure out for the life of me how I managed to blog as much as I did when we were in the process of adopting Milana. It just seems as though life takes over and there is no time to write or read blogs. I’m working on it, but I continue to prove to be a slacker in this area. I’m hoping with this bit of exciting news it will give me the added incentive to blog.


So…on with the EXCITING NEWS...we are adopting again! This may be old news as I posted it on facebook about a week ago, but maybe someone new might see it. Not to mention it IS super exciting!

This time around we are adopting a little boy. I can’t begin to tell you how exciting this is for all of us. I can only imagine that this little love will be super spoiled by his FOUR big sisters! Wow! Four girls and FINALLY a boy :) Chris will finally have another guy in the house!

You can check out “Danny” by clicking on this link:

http://reecesrainbow.org/53171/sponsorwojcik

Milana is super excited for “boy” to come home. Yes, she calls him boy – sometimes she will call him baby boy. She asks if he will come on a plane and play with her and stay in her house with her. When I tell her yes she yells “YAY!” and gives me a big hug. She has already asked if they can go to Disney when “boy” comes home. She has big plans for this little guy.

Peyton and Riley are just as excited. They have big fundraising plans – lemonade stands, they have are working on some art projects and even have some friends offering to create some original artwork to sell to help raise money. Oh! I can’t forget about the car wash they would like to have. The girls have also been asking to go on one of the trips to “Danny’s” country. We’ll have to see if we can make that work.

If anyone has any good fundraising ideas I’d love to hear them! Thanks :)

Can You Help?

A very dear, sweet friend of mine is adopting her third daughter with Down Syndrome from a place that is very close to my heart. It is a place that although I left it behind a couple of years ago, it will always be a part of me. I don't think I will ever be able to leave this place behind. It is a place where 27 months later I still see the same faces. I see them whether I close my eyes or leave them open. I  often spend time wondering what happened to so many of those beautiful children. I long to go back again.

My sweet friend and her husband are there and they are trying to help out. They care so much for these children and want to help in whatever ways they can. They have set up a chip in on their blog in order to help the orphanage purchase diapers for the children. Unfortunately, the children even though they are in need of diapers don't wear them because they are so costly and it is cheaper to do laundry than it is to buy diapers.

Please go to her blog and if you feel able to donate towards the cost of diapers for this orphanage I would be every so grateful. You can get to her blog and the chip in by clicking here:
http://hopefulheartadoption.blogspot.com/2012/12/diapers-for-dry-bums.html

The donations are NOT tax deductible! I know the diapers will be greatly appreciated! Thanks for any help you are able to provide! I'm sure the children will feel much better with a diaper than in a soaking wet outfit!

What Breaks Your Heart?

Yesterday was Orphan Sunday. I went to church thinking I was going to hear all about the plight of the Orphan. I didn't. I was disappointed to say the least. I still love my church, but I was disappointed. Ironically, the one place I heard and read about orphans all day yesterday was facebook. I was so glad yesterday for Social Media because I saw the message about Orphan Sunday all over the place - all day long.

The only down side to seeing this - is that you see it. You can't forget it isn't there. The problem that is - because there IS a problem. We have an orphan problem in our country and we have one around the world. There are far too many children living in dire circumstances. It breaks my heart. I wish that it broke everyone's heart because if it did then more people would do something about it. More people would adopt. More people would support those who are adopting. More people would pray for those with out a Mama and a Papa. They would pray for the people who are adopting!

As I was scrolling threw all the posts on facebook last night I came across several faces. Not the normal faces of children who are available for adoption and waiting, but faces I had never seen before. The faces of siblings hoping to come to America for 4 weeks this winter. Faces of children hoping to be a part of a family for the Holiday Season.

 My heart broke into pieces. I wanted more than anything to be able to bring these children into my home for that 4-4 1/2 weeks this winter. What stopped me from jumping up and screaming and yelling "Me! Pick Me! I'll take them for the Holidays!!!" It was the money. Although they had a huge Grant to help get them to the US I would still have needed to pay a lot of money very quickly. I should have said yes. I should have begged and pleaded with Chris in hopes that we could find the money and make it work so these children could have a good experience in a loving home. Now my heart breaks for them, it breaks for the millions of Orphans waiting and waiting and waiting. It breaks because I feel like I failed them. I should have known before yesterday and I should have been saving.

Why do they wait? Why does it seem that people don't care? Is it because they don't know what is out there? Is it because they are too afraid to take a chance? We were afraid. It is scary! It is also amazing! Today I wish that more people's hearts would break for the millions of Orphans in the World because then and only then can we really make a difference!

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. Please take a moment and pray for a child without a family. Take a moment and consider adoption. Do some research and let your heart break for these children.