Swing Baby!

There is room for two more on this play structure.



We will move forward toward both our girls. We will pray that Peach is ready to go when we get there. If she isn’t, we will go back for her. And someday I will post a picture of all five of them blissfully swinging away.

In my fantasy, our pediatric heart surgeon decides he has always wanted to go to Eastern Europe, and operating on Peach is the perfect excuse to do it. He does a little Doctors Without Borders pro-bono thing, fixes my girl and brings me back the golden coin. Then a few weeks later we fly over and scoop her and Mallory up. Everyone lives happily ever after. A girl can dream, right?

Beautiful Peach

Beautiful Peach needs heart surgery yesterday.

Beautiful Peach, her heart is destroying her lungs.

Beautiful Peach, time is not on her side.

Beautiful Peach is not legally registered for adoption.

Beautiful Peach is breaking my heart.

Ready for Mallory

Mallory’s crib is all set up now and waiting patiently for her. Her bedding matches Kimani’s... she has fawns and Kimani has the bunnies. The colors are the same. Since they are sharing a bedroom this works out well. The crib converts to a toddler bed but as it turns out, Mallory still sleeps in a crib. (By the way, both Mallory and Kimani can see real dear and bunnies right out that full-sized glass door in their bedroom!)

I am told that Mallory wears size 18-24 month clothing, so though she looks chunky in her pictures she is really no bigger than our two year old Kimani. She smiles a lot, understands and follows directions, imitates well, and is “self-directed”... for those of you not familiar with EI language, that means head strong and stubborn :-) She will fit right in with our family.

Here are some new pics of her...

With Grandma

I see that, like most three year olds, she likes the phone.

With Grandma and Grandpa

I am sad to take her away from those who love her, even though I know that she will be taken away to an institution on her birthday if we don’t.

Driving

Better watch your keys daddy!

Thank You

During our two week $ for $ match campaign, you donated $1221.81 which automatically turned into $2443.62. We are so grateful for your generosity!



RissaRoo over at These Three Remain has a giveaway going on in our honor. All of your names will be passed to her and she will draw three from a hat. Those three will win the goodies she and A Simple Country Girl are giving away.

Because of their kindness, and yours, our donor has offered to extend the match until the close of RissaRoo’s giveaway Friday, July 2.

Thank you all so very very much. Matthew 25:40.

Grandmothers

I adored my grandmother and she adored me. I was lucky to have her in my life until I was... well let's just say... all grown up. She passed away at the age of 94, one month before Kimani was born. My grandmother was always an important part of my life, a trusted confidant, a brilliant advisor, a skilled teacher, and a constant love.



I have learned that both Mallory and Peach have grandmothers who visit and love them. A great sense of joy came over me to know that these children are not forgotten by that special family matriarch. Mallory’s grandmother has indicated that she would like to receive news and pictures of Mallory as she grows up. I hope that Peach’s nana will want this as well.

For now, I am making each of them a scrapbook, a window into the life their cherished grand-daughters are coming to. It will include details about our state and city, the girls' new names and address, our family and our home, as well as the pictures of their girls that I already have. I hope these books bring peace and happiness... a tiny token of my thanks to them for their continued love in the face of what must have been nothing short of tragedy for their families.

Peach Pics

Last night as I stared at these new pictures of Peach, I thought to myself in amazement, “That is my baby. How odd.” It is a strange and somewhat bewildering feeling to look at a picture of a baby you have never held, or heard, or sniffed, and know that it is your child.





Isn’t she darling?

I hope to have new pictures of Mallory soon as well. And I do have news of her, which I will share when I get pics to go with it. And, in case you are wondering, she has a lovely crib set as well, but it isn’t put together yet, so you’ll have to wait to see it.

A Very Special Gift

Ruby’s big brother Grady has an amazing ability to draw. He has decided to use that talent to help save Yana, a little girl in an Eastern European orphanage who has a family committed to her. Grady is donating a custom 5x7 single subject drawing to the winner of Yana’s 100 Good Wishes fundraiser.

Here is how it works. Donate any amount to Yana’s 100 Good Wishes fund and you will be entered to win. Once the 100 wishes are filled, Lisa (Yana’s mama) will put all the donor’s names it a hat and select a winner. The winner gets to send a photo to Grady and he will create a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind graphite pencil drawn replica of it. This gift is valued at $100.

Don’t miss your chance to win something special from this up and coming amazing artist. Check out more of Grady’s work on his blog, The Way of the Pencil.

Ready for Peach

I learned a while ago that each of my babies is worth a beautiful new nursery set. This time around there was no hesitation about choosing something special and organic for Peach. No, this time the question was, should we do this before we know for sure that she will live to sleep in it?

On faith, we have chosen to get the crib all ready for Peach. Kimani was even kind enough to try it out for her. What a good big sister she will be ♥

What’s a Waiting Mom To Do?

When I was pregnant I spent my days eating healthy food, drinking lots of water, taking prenatal vitamins, and rubbing my big belly as I talked sweet nothings to the little one inside. Even during my pregnancy with Kimani when I knew there was a heart defect and the 80% chance of Down syndrome, still I was in control of what was going on with her day-to-day as I waited. I was meeting all her needs with the best of everything.

But now as I wait for my babies, I cannot feed them or comfort them. I cannot meet their needs and protect them. And I can’t rush Peach to the pediatric surgeon who can save her life, the same one that saved Kimani’s life. All I can do is chase down paperwork and wait and pray for them.



And I can shop for them :-) You see, when we finally fly over there to appear in court before the judge who will decide to make them our daughters, we will have to leave without them. That’s right. There is a 10 day waiting period after an adoption. A period that exists so that someone (an extended family member maybe?) can come forward and ask to stop the adoption. Once that period passes, we can fly back over and get our girls, then get their visas and passports, and bring them home.

So I bought them each a lovey doll, both Pooh bears, to hold onto during the waiting period. Something soft and comforting to remind them that mama and papa have not deserted them. Little Pooh bears as a promise of our return for them.

Which girl gets which bear? I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me :-)

The Schedule Thusfar

The number one question we get asked is “When do you expect to get the girls?” I don’t have an exact answer but I can tell you where we are at in the process.

February 27th: We found Arina on Reece’s Rainbow and decided to adopt her.

March 8th: We found Ametz/JCCA an accredited homestudy agency that met the necessary requirements.

From March 10 to March 31: We all visited doctors, had TB tests done, secured numerous documents, got fingerprinted, and did the 10 hour required international adoption parent training.

April 1: We had our homestudy visit and interviews.

May 14: We found out that Arina was no longer available for adoption. No one knows why. Perhaps she has already been adopted, or a family member came back for her. Or maybe she is in Heaven with God.

May 17: Andrea sent info about a baby named Peach who needs a family ASAP. Peach has a serious heart defect and will require immediate surgery once she gets to the US.

Later on May 17 Andrea sent pictures of an adorable three year old who is in the same baby house. She offered us the 2-for-1 special (just kidding :-)

May 18: We let Andrea know that we would take both Peach and Mallory.

May 20: We sent our promise trust and RR love offering.

May 25-present: Putting together our dossier. More trips to the doctor, blood lab, personnel office, fingerprinting office, town and county offices for deed, marriage certificates, birth certificates, etc. Visited the State Dept. for necessary document apostilles.

May 27: We received our completed homestudy.

June 3: Got fingerprinted again for state clearance letters. Over-nighted our i600a (petition to adopt an international orphan) forms to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service.

June 4: FedEx’d our power-of-attorney forms and petitions to our facilitator and legal representative in the Eastern European country we are adopting from.

This week we have been chasing down more paperwork, and we are almost DONE with that :-)

I don't want to jinx things but I would guess that we will be on our way to get our girls over the summer.

Here is where I want to send some love and thanks to my online sisters who have been with me, listening to me stress, sharing good advice and more, and just showing me an amazing amount of love and encouragement throughout this crazy journey.

Jennifer from Three’s a Charm and Saving Sofia

Lisa from Bridget’s Light and Loving Alina

And, my “blood brother,” Lisa from Genetically Enhanced

The Most Beautiful Orphan

The most beautiful orphan I have ever seen is in this video. She debuts at 5:21 and then makes a second darling appearance at 7:27.

Beautiful Orphan Girl

Wow, $ for $ Donation Match

A generous donor has offered to match any donations made to our adoption fund, dollar for dollar up to $5000. For the next two weeks anything you give toward saving our girls gets doubled. How awesome is that?

No matter if you use our Chip In fund on the blog, or make a tax-deductible gift through our Reece's Rainbow family adoption grant fund, our donor will match it! So if you are considering helping to save Mallory and Peach, now is a great time to act.

We want to take a moment to thank those who have already donated. These are tough times and that makes your gifts extra meaningful. We pray that God blesses you for your kindness.

(Thanks to RissaRoo and her giveaway, the match has been extended until July 2.)

What’s In a Name?

I’ll bet you’ve guessed that our two little girls in Eastern Europe were not originally named Mallory and Peach, and if so, you are correct. For many reasons the children on Reece’s Rainbow are often given aliases and such is our case.

Mallory’s name given to her by her parents means bitterness. I felt sad for her parents when I found that out. I tried to imagine their shock and sorrow when the child they waited for in a happy state of anticipation was born with Down syndrome. In their culture, there is no place for a child like Mallory. There is no support for parents who want to keep a child like her.

Bitterness... an intense feeling, perhaps a combination of sorrow and anger, causing sour bile to rise in the back of one’s throat. I will never know how hard it must have been to turn away from Mallory, to sign her life away to strangers. But I can understand her parents marking her with a name that encompassed all that they felt.

She will keep her first name. It is the only thing she has in this world that belongs to her. She is three years old and knows her name. I would not take that from her.

As for Princess Peach (there’s a whole lot of Mario in our house ;-) her given name means holy. I wonder if her parents knew that, if they intentionally named her with that meaning in mind. My guess is that they were told she was going to die. Maybe they knew that to put her up for adoption was to give her a chance at a life-saving surgery. Maybe they pray for her everyday.

Soon Peach will have a chance to live, and soon she will reborn with a new name.