Life is busy....

I cannot believe I have not posted since July!  Wow, does time fly!  Everyone is doing fantastic.  I had a minor setback in August, having to have my gallbladder removed and then having complications that put me down, in bed, for 28 days.  It was a miserable time for me, but my husband and daughter, Natalie, really stepped up and took care of things and me, when I was so sick.  Hooray for them, I am proud of them both.

Now on to kiddo updates.  Arielle is walking and running all over the place, she is a little toot toot.  She doe not verbalize much, but she is using her signs a lot more to communicate her needs.  We signed up for Gemiini and both girls watch it several times per day and love it.  She had a sleep study done and does not have sleep apnea or any other concerns in that area.  She is a pretty healthy little girl.  About her only real health issue is having eczema really bad and having to find ways to treat it and watch for certain foods that make it worse.  Arielle takes therapy twice per week, working with developmental things like attention and playing, and also still working on gross motor skills trying to teach her to step up small steps and get in and out of thresholds without crawling over them.

Arianna is doing fantastic.  While she was at the hospital having heart surgery we did a swallow study and found that her liquids needed to be thickened in order to help her learn how to swallow effectively.  We have been thickening her liquids and it has made a lot of difference in how she eats and swallows and she no longer has nasty gurgling inside her lungs because she is not swallowing liquids down her air pipe any more.  She still takes thyroid medicine, but the good news is after an ultra sound of the thyroid gland, they found it to be fully developed and healthy, so she may get off medicine down the road.  She has become a lot more mobile, she sits and scoots all over the place, which is exactly what the therapist does not want her to do, but unless you follow her all over the house and stand over her, you cannot prevent it.  However, she is actually putting her feet down when you try to stand her.  Before she curled them up to her body like an infant.  They measured her for leg braces which should be in this next week.  Once we get them, they have a special type walker she will strap to, stand and either try to walk of just stand there.  It has straps where she cannot sit down or fall down in any way. It will give her the opportunity to try and move her feet to get around.  We have a goal of having her weight bearing on her legs and pulling up to furniture and stuff, by the end of the year.  Our second goal is to have her walking by February when she turns three.  She will also start school for half a day when she turns three, so this is important to me.  I don't feel comfortable having her go to school not walking, especially since she is not a wheel chair candidate.  I cannot believe how smart Arianna is!  Cognitively she is right on her age, she totally understands when you speak to her, she will do what you ask.  She cannot really speak words, but she sure mumbles and rambles all sorts of things like she is talking.  Arianna has therapy four times per week.  She is working on feeding issues because she still packs food in her cheeks or the roof of her mouth.  She has physical therapy and speech language therapy along with developmental therapy with Arielle.

Natalie has started second grade and so far we are having a very nice year.  This is our second year to home school and we changed our curriculum up a bit this year, moved stuff around and things are working much better for both of us, it has been very nice.  She is a very smart young lady, who can read and spell on a much higher level and to me that is important.  If she can have an excellent literacy in reading and spelling, then everything else will be easier for her.  If a person struggles with reading and spelling, than life is harder in all other areas.  Natalie is part of the American Heritage Girls and loves it.  She has already earned so many badges and tries really hard to be kind and caring.  This year will be her first communion and confession and she is very excited, but also nervous.  She is scared about talking to Father Ken about her sins.  We talk a lot about what types of things are considered sins and the process of confession.  She already knows so much about it, but will really be ready by the time January gets here.  Natalie is taking Jazz and Ballet again this year, it is her 5th year and she is doing very well.  She wants to add gymnastics, but we will assess that later.  We are already too busy and not sure we could add it, but she does not want to give up dance to replace it.

Carissa is attending preschool as a four year old at the Montessori at our church.  We decided to continue the same process we did for Natalie, which was three years in the private school, then after completing Kindergarten, which is the third year, I will home school her as well.  I love how they learn so much about God and mass, the behaviors expected and not allowed in mass  Plus she loves doing all the things they do..  Carissa is taking ballet/tap for her second year, she likes going to dance like her big sister.

Both of the older girls loves playing with and attending to their little sisters.  Natalie has learned how to change diapers and has fun with it.  She can also dress the babies, like they are big baby dolls.  Carissa enjoys reading books to them, or telling them the story she thinks the book says!  Both babies are fascinated with the older girls, which really helps them with learning things and speaking.

Shawn and I went on a much needed vacation for our anniversary. We went to the Cayman Islands and snorkeled and went deep sea fishing, it was a blast.  My older daughter Brandi did a great job staying at our house and watching her little sisters.  We were very thankful she was able to take off work and spend a few days here.  Her little sisters lover her so much!

We had a fund raiser to attend for friends of ours whose baby boy is deaf.  They are trying to get cochlear implants for him.  But when we arrived we just so happen to get in line right behind Shawns parents and Uncle.  His Uncle turned around and was friendly as always, talked to the kids and met the babies.  Sad to say, his parents, the grandparents to our children, never said a word.  They turned and looked at our children, turned around and never said anything.  They have never met the babies, and as their actions have shown the past year, they have no intentions of ever meeting them.  They are the most hateful humans on this earth.  My sister in law, Shani who used to talk so badly about them, used to not have anything to do with them for years, never accepted presents from them for her children, now, defends them.  It is really sad, that she only wants a relationship with them because they are getting old and she wants to be a part of the Will when they die.  I am so thankful to have great friends who love and support us, a community who knows how his parents are and believes they are such angry hateful people, and tries to make up to our children for the short givings that come from their grandparents.  I am thankful and happy to have a husband who loves me and his children enough that no matter what his parents and family do and say, he will stand by us and he will follow the commands of the bible and leave his parents side for his family.  I am thankful that we don't need any member of his toxic family to make our family happy and to meet the needs of our children.  My mom and sisters provide that to them, as well as our good friends the Beckers and Hoffbauers who act as Aunts and Uncles.

On another note, I am taking another class this semester, so I am really very busy.  I attend observation of a classroom once per week and am loving the thought of teaching other children someday.

The Lord has blessed me so much this past year.  I cannot believe that He has allowed me, and us to be the parents to these wonderful precious children.  We will do right by Him and raise them in the way they should go, teaching them about His wonderful works and leading them to salvation.

Finally home!!!

Arianna's heart surgery was an amazing success!!!  The doctors are so amazed at the recovery and progress that Arianna has made.  We contribute all of it to God and thank all the prayer warriors who have been praying daily for our little princess.  God proved the doctors wrong on so many things.  We were told she would be in the hospital for 4-6 weeks, we were there 2.  We were told she would end up with a permanent pace maker, she has NONE.  The doctors even pre-wired her in surgery expecting to use the pace maker and her heart never once time showed any type of arythmia and this totally surprised the doctors.  She recovered and flew out of ICU very quickly.  She had a couple of days that were tense and hard, but overall her recovery was by far much quicker and easier than doctors had predicted.  We are home now and she is getting back to herself, except for not eating.  Not eating is the only issue we are trying to combat right now, but feel she will come around after being home and in familiar surroundings for a few days.

While we were in the hospital they ordered a swallow study and found that Arianna asperates when she swallows, but this is an easy fix with simply thick that is placed into milk and other liquid or thin foods and drinks.  Asperating can also be a contributor to upper respiratory illnesses, so that was an awesome find.

Again thank you to all of our prayer warriors and the wonderful ladies who have been bringing meals to my husband and kids while I was at the hospital.  Your help, thoughts and prayers are much appreciated.

Gearing up for summer!!!

Our very busy school year is coming to an end.  Carissa completed her 3 year old preschool at the Montessori at our church, and Natalie is almost done with the majority of her home school, with the exception of the summer materials we will continue.  I have been busy planning and reviewing new home school material for next year for Natalie and getting prepared for teaching at vacation bible school next week.  The majority of my stress was trying to find a sitter during the weeks that Arianna is in the hospital and God has answered my prayers.  I found a wonderful college graduate who is waiting for her new job to start in the fall at a school district.  She is old enough, mature enough, drives, knows CPR, is a life guard and swim instructor.  Wow!  I am so excited to have her come to our house daily and watch Natalie, Carissa and Arielle while I go to the hospital.  This was a huge stress relief for me in being prepared for the upcoming surgery.  Kids are very excited as well because them getting to swim was depending on the person hired, lucky them she fits the bill!!  We are getting our pool ready for summer swimming.  With all the rain we have had, the pool cover remains on the pool.  But this week we are expected to hit the 90s with no rain, so its time to swim!

Arielle is almost walking.  She holds onto things and walks, she pushes and walks behind toys, she even stands alone and takes a few steps so she should be off and walking very soon!!  Arianna, is doing her own cruising around the house, on her belly!  We will have her crawling soon, I hope.  It looks like it will be after surgery since that is coming up quickly.

Both little ones have doctor appointments at ENTs, Arielle for possible sleep apnea and Arianna for nose bleeds.  Lets pray these are quick and easy fixes for both!

Arianna is such a trooper!!!

Yesterday Arianna had a procedure in the Heart Cath Lab.  They put her to sleep and inserted a catheter into her main artery and into the heart.  They were taking pressures of the interior of her heart to be better prepared for her surgery. When they were trying to put her to sleep they could not get her intubated cause the tube would not go down her trachea, they called in a pulmonary doctor who came and did a scope and found that her trachea did not develop normally and when you get below her vocal chords it narrows to a very tiny size.  He also found she has a second right lobe to her lung that is non functional and serves no purpose.  Anyways, they were able to get her to sleep in a different way and they performed the procedure with no issues.  However, the findings are exactly what they expected, but we did not expect to hear the news that she will be ICU for 4-5 weeks after her heart surgery.  Her little heart is enlarged so much they said her recovery will be tough and long. She is scheduled for June 16th, which gives us time to plan. We were not expecting such a long hospital stay and the hospital is over an hour away from our home.  Our plan is to find a sitter to come to our house daily and watch the other three kids, while I travel back and forth daily to the hospital and Shawn works.  I will probably stay one or two nights per week at the hospital and we hope for our whole family to stay the weekends down there so we don't have to travel.  It will be a long process for all of us, but we will get through it and Arianna will feel so much better afterwards.

Please continue to pray for little Arianna, she has gone through so many medical tests lately and now her upcoming surgery, but she is such a trooper.  Yesterday after her Cath lab procedure he had to lay for 4 hours flat on her back and she did such an amazing job!!  God brought this little princess here and into our lives for a reason and He will heal her and give her an amazing life.

Thank you all and God bless!

Mothers Day....

Mothers Day was beautiful and full of love and joy!!  Arianna was baptized, we celebrated both her baptism and Mothers Day with wonderful loving friends.  We are fortunate to have very special close christian friends who love us and nurture our marriage and relationship.  They are always there for us through thick and thin, ups and downs and they always remind us of Gods love for us and His intentions in our marriage covenant with Him.  How awesome is that to have such friends, we love you Michael and Billie Becker and Steve and Kim Hofbauer!!!

Arianna was so beautiful in her baptism dress and full of smiles as usual.  We are so blessed that God gave us the opportunity to bring her into our family so she could bless us with her immense love for others.  She is a true light of God!!

Arianna updates...

Today both babies had eye exams.  Arianna has astigmatism, but not enough to warrant glasses just yet, probably 3-4 years out.  Arielle has some nearsightedness, but not enough to warrant glasses, again probably 3-4 years out.

Open heart surgery has been scheduled for Arianna.  June 16th she will have both holes fixed and a new valve created.  She will be in the hospital for 10-12 days.  Please keep her in your prayers.

Arianna has changed so much since we got home on March 26th.  She is scooting all over the place now, whereas before she just laid still and cried because she did not like tummy time.  She is gaining so much strength in her upper body, she can also sit now unassisted without falling backwards at all anymore.

Arielle is just about ready to walk, she is pushing everything she can to walk, not much longer and she will be taking off on her own!!

Both girls are so amazing and loving and bring so much joy to our family!  Please keep Arianna in your prayers as we embark on her journey to good health.

Gob bless!

Things are going great!!!

Our family is enjoying all the bonding, playing and fun we are having with Arianna.  She is changing every day.  When we first brought her home, she could sit alone but had to have a pillow behind her because her back muscles are so weak she could not stop herself from falling backwards.  As of today, she sits alone without a pillow and has not fallen backwards in a couple of weeks now.  This means her muscles are getting stronger just by being allowed to sit on the floor and use them to gain strength.  We also give her lots of tummy time, even though she is over the age of two, since she was never allowed to stimulate her body through exercise, she could not crawl or move anywhere.  Now she spends lots of time on her tummy, she can scoot herself backwards and turn her body around in circles in an attempt to get the toy she wants.  All I can say is progress!!!  She may not be crawling yet or doing the things she should be doing at her age, but she is making amazing progress.

The results of her blood tests and poop specimans are in.  She is positive for parasites, which we pretty much knew would be there and her thyroid is not working properly.  So now we have an appointment to see the Endocrinologist to get that straightened out. We are working on a short time schedule here, because all these things have to be addressed and under control either through medicine or some other way, before May 20th when she has her heart cath surgery to measure the pressures within her heart and lungs.

Arielle and Arianna are so much fun to watch.  Little Arianna will be playing with a toy and here comes her sister Arielle to take it away.  She has decided to fight back, so now they play a game of tug of war with Arianna looking Arielle right in the eyes and squealing at her to let go.  Arielle just stares at her and moves on.  Arielle is very mobile with crawling and pulling up to stand and starting to take steps of walking, while Arianna sits back and watches.  But Arianna is very verbal and picks up on signs very quickly.  She can sign, eat and more and she loves to read books.

So next week both babies have an appointment to have their eyes checked.  Another item on our list of checking those things that could possibly cause issues in a Down syndrome child.

Thank you for visiting and sharing our story!!

Making changes in my blog..

Now that our adoption of Arianna is complete, my blog will focus on our family growing together as one and learning to lean on God.

My husband and I are of the Catholic faith and are raising our children the same.  We are committed to our marriage and our love for one another, even through tough times.  Recently, our marriage was tested yet again, this time his family did not start the drama another outsider did, but as soon as his family learned there was conflict, they jumped on board to see what they could do to end our marriage.

I am saddened by a comment that my husbands brother made to him during this conflict.  "I don't support divorces since I am Catholic, but in this case divorce is the best option" hmmm, really? Sounds like you are talking out of both sides of your mouth.  How can a person consider themselves a faithful Catholic and support divorce?  Even our priest commented that those words did not come from a truly faithful Catholic, because as Catholics we are commanded to save and protect the sanctity of marriage, no matter what.  I believe the best words of advice coming from another Catholic should be "I am sorry you are going through such hard times with your wife, perhaps you should seek counsel from your priest before you consider the option of divorce,  When you married you made a covenant before God, one that should not be taken lightly."

Nobody is perfect, life is not perfect and we are tested on a daily basis.  When people try to break into my marriage and cause conflicts I find it very hard not to retaliate, but this time I am not.  I have been praying everyday for God to give me the strength and wisdom to overcome the words that have been said against me and to forgive the people who say them.

Life is moving forward for our family, we are growing closer together and spending more time in bible study and prayer together.

Now on to the updates:  Arianna saw her cardiologist this week and things don't look good for her. God knew exactly what he was doing by moving our adoption timeline up many weeks.  Arianna will be having heart surgery soon, they are preparing her for it and running many tests to be ready to repair and fix her broken heart.  She was diagnosed with Complete Atrioventricular Septal Defect. This means she has a small hole in her Atrial chamber, a very large hole in her Ventricular chamber and instead of two valves she only has one.  She will need to have a second valve created and the holes closed so she can be healthy and no longer face the possibility of death.  Without the surgery her lungs get way too much blood flow, which results in her not breathing and turning blue, which can at some point result in death.  She also saw the Gastro doctor, who is running some tests and checking her anatomy to make sure everything is working great.  She will have a tough road over the next 2-3 months, but once she is recovered she will be healthy and should thrive and grow!!

Pray for our angel girl as she endures her many tests, procedures and surgeries.  I will keep updating as we move along this path.

God bless!!

A Few Pictures!!

Here are a few pictures from Easter morning.  Attempting to get all four girls in the picture is not an easy task, Arielle always runs towards the camera.

Arielle and Arianna look so much alike, Arianna is 6 months older than Arielle, but she is about the same size.  They wear the same 12 month size clothes.

Arianna has opened up so much since getting home.  She loves her sisters and interacts very well with everyone.  She is becoming a beautiful flower in the sunshine!

So many updates!

We arrived home last Thursday the 26th very late at night. Have been trying to catch up on house cleaning, clothes and spending time with the girls. Arianna did very well traveling home, people on the plane did not even know she was there, she was that good!

She is adjusting very well. She can only sit, does not crawl or go from sitting to laying or laying to sitting.  Her upper body strength is very little. When she sits on the floor and plays with toys, Arielle takes them away and then I will hear grunting and see a small struggle until one of them gives in to the other. It is cute to watch and see who is going to exert their independence.  Arianna is getting very good and holding other ground until Arielle gives up and moves away.

Arianna is still getting used to Daddy. She was not around men except when seeing a doctor, on,y women work at the orphanage, so she is shy and timid and hides her eyes when talking to Daddy. But she is warming up nicely and before long will be a daddy's girl!

She had her first doctors appointment yesterday and they already have her scheduled to see the cardiologist. Her heart sounded that bad, they felt she needed to be seen immediately. We knew she has unresolved heart issues, so it's no surprise, but we did not realize it was that urgent. We will update more as we know more. Will update from my phone so I can post a picture, can't figure it out from my iPad.

Picked up our beautiful princess!

Well the day came and Maureen, now Arianna Joy Walter, is no longer an orphan.  She has a loving. Mommy and Daddy, and three sisters who love her dearly! We are still in Kiev waiting for her passport so the embassy can print her Visa inside it.  She is a joy and so much fun.  I brought her size 18 month clothes, but they are way too big, so she is close to a 12 month size and she is now two years old.  I brought her some pedia sure and she loves it, so we will be getting her fattened up within the next six months.  Right now her hip bones and spine stick out, but Arielle was the same way when we brought her home, so I know she will do well.  Hope to go home Wednesday, if all goes well.  Thank you for all the prayers and financial help, she has been blessed and will now flourish and grow into a beautiful young woman of God!

Court complete......

We got home yesterday evening from Ukraine, yes I can say that now that Court is over.  All went well and now we can pick her up on Tuesday March 17th!  I could not post while there cause for some reason the internet was very shotty this time.  All other times I have never had any issues with the internet service, so it was weird.  Plus it was a very short, hectic trip.

I am pleased to introduce Arianna Joy Walter.

She is a precious little angel, so loving and cuddly and we cannot wait to pick her up and get her home.  She deserves a loving Mommy and Daddy and sisters.  I always tear up and almost cry in Court when the Director of the orphanage tells the Court that she was abandoned at birth and brought to orphanage and how she has never had any visitors or people call to check on her, visit her in person or support her in any way.  It is very sad to me that a person can walk away from such a beautiful precious child, but their loss is our gain.

Again, we want to thank everyone who has supported our endeavors through prayers and donations, we could not have done it without your help, thank you!!

2nd trip soon...

Our Court date was originally March 3rd and now has been pushed to Friday March 6th.  So airline tickets have been purchased and we are ready to leave next Wednesday.  It will be a short trip, arrive, travel to region, have Court, visit the next day and then home on Sunday.  Cannot wait to see our precious baby girl again, I have missed her so much.  But I keep telling myself, not much longer and she will be home with us.  Our pick up date will be March 17th, so we are almost there!

I have been researching pediatric occupational and physical therapy in our area.  Looks like I will have to drive over an hour to Dallas to get the therapy she will need.  We currently use ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) they come to your home and help, but they cannot offer the type of services in our home that I feel Arianna is going to need.  Her little body is limp, she has no body strength at all.  When you lay her on the floor she can only hold up her head and nothing else.  Bless her little heart she cries when you put her down on the floor, but I guess if it took so much work to lay there I would cry to.

On the other hand, she loves to be held and cuddle, so I a ready for lots of that! Thank you to everyone who has supported our journey through prayers and donations, we are grateful, God bless you!

Home from first trip

We traveled home on Sunday and were happy to see our little girls!!  We will return to Eastern Europe on March 1st, for Court on March 3rd.  Nice to get home, see our girls, clean house and get organized again for trip number two.  Things will move quickly as I have a lot to do.  Cannot wait to get back and have our day in Court to officially make Maureen ours.  Thank you to all who donate and pray for Maureen and our family!

Met our baby girl!!?

We finally meet.  Maureen is such a precious and beautiful baby girl. She is much bigger than I anticipated very tall for her age.  Her birthday was a few days ago and she turned two.  She has waited a long time to get a mommy and daddy and finally her time is here.  What a blessing she is to us already and will be forever! It was a long day yesterday driving here, then meeting her, then doing paperwork, getting checked into hotel, then back to see her again, then back to hotel, dinner and finally bed.  We overslept this morning and missed breakfast, now the trick to find a place to eat for lunch and get ready for our visit of the day.  Again thank you to all who donated allowing us the opportunity to come and bring this angel home. I cannot wait until I can share pictures of this angel!

In Country...

Just a quick update to let everyone know we are in Country! We had our appointment this morning with the Department of Ministry, looked at Maureen's file and accepted the referral. Another great piece of news, our awesome facilitators worked magic today and we actually received the written referral instead of having to wait until tomorrow. So we leave first thing in the morning for the region she is located in and will meet tomorrow! Very excited and so happy to be here so quickly.  Thank you to all who have donated financially and prayerfully,  we appreciate all of you!

Leave in 4 days!

I thought I would be nervous, but I don't have time to be! I have spent the past two days in bed with vertigo and am hoping it passes quickly. I guess if it had to hit, then this week is better than next week after we are in Eastern Europe.  I still have a lot to do to be ready to leave on Sunday.

Our girls are very excited about seeing pictures of their new baby sister, but not so much about Daddy and Mommy being gone a week. The hardest part of this trip is going to be leaving them behind for a week to make this first trip. They have never stayed without at least one us being there.  Thankfully our goods friends, whom our kids adore, have agreed to stay at our house to make it easier on the kids.  At least they will be able to sleep in their own beds.

We are so thankful to all donors to our FSP, know matter the size of the donation, it still made a difference.  We have at least reached our goal to make this first trip possible that we have to pay our facilitator fees, which is the biggest chunk of the money.  Again, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

God is gracious all the time...

Today has been a fantastic and humbling day.  It started out with us finding a company willing to match the donation with Angels in Disguise, not only match but they offered an extra $500!!!  I cried when I got the news as it was going to put us very close to our goal for the first trip.  Then right after I got off the phone, I looked at our profile and saw a $6,000 donation had been made and my first thought was, that was too quick, the grant money could not have gone through so fast.  So I checked with Reece's Rainbow and found out it was not the grant money, but an anonymous donor.  Then I was really crying more, could hardly talk to my husband on the phone, because this meant we were still getting the grant money, which would then give us $13,322 in our FSP.  Wow, how amazing is that!!  We will only need another $4,678 to be fully funded.

I have been so stressed all weekend, since we found out we leave the 8th for our appointment and our FSP was so low.  But I have kept faith that God was going to provide somehow and sure enough he has.  Now we just have a little bit more to go and we are fully funded and this awesome little princess will be home and getting the medical care she needs and deserves and of course all the loving from us and her siblings who are so excited to meet her!

I want to thank everyone who has donated to our FSP, everyone who has and is still praying for us and Maureen, Diana Richie for putting together the blanket and selling squares for donations and of course the Peterson family, who donated to our FSP and have put together the awesome t-shirt and bracelet fundraiser to help bring Maureen home. Thank you to each and every one of you, God will bless you and we are very humbled and appreciative of your support!

Travel dates have arrived.....

Things are moving so quickly this time around.  We were submitted January 22, 2015 and normally would travel 4-6 weeks after that, but we are traveling February 8, 2015.  So, so excited!!!  But also nervous as heck cause we don't have all the funding we need for this first trip.  We have fundraisers going and we thought we were due to travel mid March, giving us plenty of time to raise more funds and get more grants.

We have an offer from an organization called Angels in Disguise and they are willing to donate $2,500 to our agency account, but there is a catch.  They will only donate if another company or organization will donate the same amount, making the total donation $5,000.  This would be just enough to get us to the limit for the first trip.  Prayers are being sent up to God and he is listening, we will get the funding.  We are trusting in him.

Maureen's Birthday is February, we just don't know what day.  I think God gave us travel dates so much earlier than expected because he wants us to be with her on her special day, so she will not be alone when she turns the big 2!!

If you have a company and want to help or know someone who does, email me at shawnandlola@ntin.net and I will put you in contact with Penny from Angels in Disguise to arrange the matching donation.

Thank you to everyone who has donated on behalf of baby Maureen!!  God bless you.

Final part of fundraiser....

Here is the last part of our fundraiser.  Again thank you to the wonderful Peterson family who have opened their hearts and spent a lot of time fundraising for Maureen.

We are selling T-shirts in honor of World Down Syndrome Day (March 21, 2015) and Autism Awareness Month (April).  Deadline to place order is March 1st, this leaves plenty of time for printing and mailing.  After all shirts are printed and mailed out, proceeds will be donated to the FSP showing total amount collected from sales.

To order:  paypal $12.00 + $2.00 shipping to shawnandlola@ntin.net please indicate name and mailing address, design shirt you want and size.

Sizes offered:  Adult XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL and youth S, M, L, XL

Please give Maureen a snuggle today!!!

~SNUGGLES FOR MAUREEN~  By Diana Richie
Help Snuggle Maureen by purchasing a blanket square for $5. Each square purchased is actually going towards a blanket that I will be making for her and sending to the Walter family when it is complete. Please share the snuggles!!
Donate here: http://reecesrainbow.org/84982/sponsorwalter-2
Forward donation receipt here: embracingmiracles@comcast.net

Fundraiser part one!!!

Thanks to the Peterson family, they are making these beautiful bracelets to sell with all proceeds going directly to our FSP.  Price $12, adult or child size. If you would like to purchase then click the donate link on the right of this blog, make the donation and then forward a copy of your paypal confirmation email to shawnandlola@ntin.net along with your name, address and which size bracelet. Not only will you get a beautiful bracelet, but Reece's Rainbow will send you a receipt at the end of the year for your taxes.

Fundraiser coming soon!!!

Stay tuned for our upcoming fundraiser.  Another family was generous enough to offer their help in putting together a tshirt fundraiser, so we can try and reach our goal.  Details to follow very soon!

Great news...

Our FBI background checks have been apostilled, are being picked up today and sent via federal express to a family heading to Eastern Europe this weekend.  This is the last document needed to complete our dossier.  We have confirmation that our dossier will be submitted on Thursday January 22nd instead of the 29th, so very excited about that.  We will travel anywhere from 4-6 weeks after submission, so we could actually travel as early as the end of February.

On a sad note, there was a child listed on Reece's Rainbow who was in an orphanage in Eastern Europe and she passed away.  It is hard to see these children suffering and being left unloved with no mommy and daddy.  They have not done anything to deserve this kind of treatment, they did not ask to be born, but yet because they are born with a disability the parents decide they are not worthy of love.  So sad.

New week, new update!!

Today is Monday January 12, 2015.  Our FBI background checks will be picked up on Wednesday and sent via federal express to the family that is hand carrying them to Eastern Europe.  They are leaving on the 19th, so the last piece of our Dossier will be delivered on January 20, 2015.  Then we wait to be submitted, we are hoping this will be January 29, 2015.

We need to have our FSP read $10,000 in order to make our first trip in March.  It shows $1,030 so we just need another $9,000 and we can go!  Please find it in your hearts to help us make this happen for baby Maureen.  She needs a family and she needs out of the orphanage so she does not get transferred to the adult mental institution.  The following link is to a story that Diane Sawyer did about these precious children and what happens to them when they are transferred
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/utah-family-saves-ukraine-girl-15236476 

We know first hand the amazing difference that will be made in Maureens life.  When we first brought Arielle home from the orphanage she was 1 year old and just laid on the floor on her back and did nothing and she only weighed 12 pounds, she was severely malnourished. She hardly even smiled.  Now we have been home five months and she is a totally different baby.  She weighs around 20 pounds, she is 16 months old, she crawls, she laughs all the time, she plays with toys and her sisters, she is pulling up to tables and things trying to stand and before we know it she will be walking. All things that she would have never done in an orphanage being kept in a bed 24/7 and had she been transferred, if she made it that long, she would have died very quickly.

Maureen needs heart surgery just like Arielle did, we need to get her home, get the surgery she needs and give her the opportunity to thrive and grow and have a wonderful life!

Overnight couriers...

Well now I know from experience to always use federal express if you want a guaranteed delivery time for a letter or package.  We received our FBI background checks yesterday via UPS, I paid extra to receive them like that so I would have a guarantee of arrival that day.  Little did I know they can take all day to bring it to you.  UPS showed up at my door at 10:30 pm with my documents.  Obviously not in time for me to overnight them to DC for delivery today!!  Anyways I am off to overnight via federal express our FBI background checks to DC for apostille. We are supposed to receive them back next week, guaranteed!

All of our other documents were delivered to a family traveling in the next few days to Eastern Europe and they will hand deliver the to our legal team.  Almost there as far as documents go.

On another note, we still need to get donations or earn money some how to fund this adoption.  I am working on letters to mail out to people and organizations in an attempt to gain donations.  We are selling items we have to try and make some money and hopefully we will be having a fund raiser very soon, to earn more!  God has this under control.

Quick exciting update.....

Just received an email that our FBI background checks are completed and being sent UPS 2nd day air today.  So they will arrive here on Tuesday, then I can turn around and overnight them to Washington DC and get them apostilled.  Looks like the last of our documents will be ready to travel to Eastern Europe by around the 15th!!!!

Thank you Lord for the quick processing!!

Happy New Year to all.....

Today is the first day of a new year, one that will be prosperous and full of love and joy!  Speaking of Joy, we have decided to name Maureen, "Arianna Joy" to match our already home "Arielle Grace" so we will have Arielle and Arianna!  Perfect twin girl names, since they are only 6 months apart in age.

To the persons who have donated to our FSP on Reece's Rainbow, thank you so much, we love and appreciate all your help.  No matter how little or how big the donation, it is another step to our goal.  I sat down and figured out we will need right about $10,000 when we travel in mid to late March. We still have plenty of time to meet this goal.  If everyone will share our blog or our profile on Reece's Rainbow with their friends, we could meet this goal pretty quickly.  Internet is the best and quickest way to spread the word.

On another note, I have drafted my letter that I plan to send out to a few select people from the top 15 super rich who donate to worthy causes.  First it is being reviewed and edited by a friend who writes for a living, thank you Stacey!!  My goal is to get them into the mail by Monday at the latest and then sit back and wait.

Our new year has started with a very cold icy day and we live in North Texas. We don't normally have ice and snow, but it has chosen to grace us with its presence, so we are staying in doors, well except my husband is working today.  The girls and I are playing games and dress up and having a blast.  I think I forgot to mention that we started a new Christmas tradition this year, so instead of buying a bunch of toys that never get played with, we decided to have one Santa gift and then four gifts that meet the "something I want, need, wear and read" categories.  It turned out fantastic and the girls we still happy, even without a bunch of toys.  I do have to share that our oldest girl, Natalie, who is 6 years old, woke up at 4:00 am, came to our room with a flashlight and said Santa came!  I quickly told her it was way too early to get up yet and to lay down with us in bed, so she did.  After she got all comfy, she said, I feel better now and I said why, what was wrong.  She said when I went to bed last night I was very worried that I might be on Santa's naughty list!  But she was relieved to see there was a toy for her from Santa.  Children are so precious and their stories are so pure and true, I love all my kids so much and enjoy each and every moment of every day.  I don't take any day for granted, cause I know life can be short and you can miss out on a lot and its the little things that count!!

Have great New Year and enjoy your little things in life, they will bring you much joy if you allow them too!!