What's up?

• I love me some bullet point blog posts for quick updates!
• Brian flew home from Chicago Thursday evening after being there since early Monday morning.  Always great to have him home and I do miss him dearly when he is gone.   I keep busy, well the dogs surely keep me busy alone, but it's inevitable to miss your other half.  Who knew I would complain about having the whole bed to myself?!?!
• Our appointment Friday with the Reproductive Endocrinologist went as well as it could.  She threw the information out at us and the options and told us it is completely up to us on where to go from here.  She said because we hadn't met in some time she wanted to have a little update appointment so the three of us (her, Brian, and I) could all be on the same page and come up with our plan of attack.
• We decided our attack plan will be to wait out another month on birth control and added in a medication called Metformin in the interim to help with the insulin resistance that comes with PCOS then we will start back up with injectibles but this time start with the last dose and work from there instead of starting back lower.
• It was nice to notice after only 3 weeks of birth control pills my hormones had leveled out from the PCOS and I lost 8 lbs in those few short weeks!  The doctor expects my body to continue to lose the weight I gained when I'm off the birth control hormones pills however once I go off and start treatments she said don't expect not to gain some or most of it back.  So for today I celebrate for once in almost the past 2 years my hormones are back in sync and my body is responding however we know it is only short lived.  Then again if it was about weight I would stay on the birth control hormone pills and return to my pre-going-off-the-pill weight and not be trying but I'm choosing the latter.  This child better be worth it, pre-warn them please!
• The Metformin so far hasn't been too bad.  I'm only on a small dosage but its enough to wreck a little havoc on my stomach which comes with the territory of taking it.  To be honest I expected worse however again I'm only on a tiny dose so that could be the difference.
• After the appointment Friday I was able to mow the lawn for the second time this year.  Love mowing the lawn, something so meditating about it!  Brian cleaned his car while I was mowing and when we were done we went on a long bike ride and came home to grab some pizza.  We had a laid back Friday night but it was nice after not having him around all week!
•  Saturday we went to my cousin Josh's First Communion party. 
• Unfortunately we weren't there long before Brian ended up feeling really sick.  He had woken up that morning in a full sweat but we thought it was just him being overheated which does happen, men are furnaces!  The chills while still sweating like crazy, headache, stomach problems, and muscle aches quickly set in and it seems that perhaps from his plane ride to Chicago he likely picked up a bug and by the time he came home it had incubated enough to then unleash on his whole immune system.  Even when he left this morning for Chicago he still was sick however he was much better (or maybe just use to it) from when he was on Saturday and Sunday.  Hopefully it will run its course quickly!
• Sunday Brian stayed home while I asked my parents to trudge along to look at a really nice Rainbow play system playground I found off Craigslist for sale.  Both my parents, Quinn, and Mary joined and I ended up sealing the deal!  We figure with fostering we would need a playground sooner or later and this deal was too good to pass up.  We are hoping to take it down and bring it home and put back up not this upcoming week but next with help from family and friends...not it will become a fight with who will go down the slide first as several people have tried to call dibs!
• Since we were out in the area we ended up at my dad's aunt and uncles.  It was nice to visit with them as we don't see them very often. 
• Today I dropped Brian off at the airport before 5 am again and kissed him goodbye. 
• We ended up going to the zoo then shopping.
• Came home to spend time with my pups for a while then a random trip to Malley's for some ice cream was in store with my family.  It had been some time since I had Malley's but it's always a welcomed treat and of course my lactose stomach is never happy with me after but it is oh so worth it!

****I thought I would do another Questions and Answers post shortly.  I had some great questions last time from all over and decided I would open up again to take some Questions and give the Answers I can!  I know I have gotten some great facebook messages lately asking about this or that so figured I would open it up and see what other questions may be out there or topics you have on your brain so I can make a whole post of it! ****

Waiting is a Killer

Waiting for answers.  Waiting for discernment.  Waiting for perfect timing.   Waiting on someone else.    Waiting for test results.  Waiting for a husband/wife.  Waiting for a job.  Waiting for a breakthrough.  Waiting for children.  Waiting for a clear path.  Waiting for closing on a house.  Waiting for money.  Waiting for a degree.  Waiting for a cure.  Waiting for a license.  Waiting for a call. 

It seems in life we are always waiting for one thing or another.  Grab your number and take a seat.  I find that often we have a lot of wishbone but not much backbone to wait!  We can wish and pray for this that or whatever yet the backbone to wait is just not there.  We cave after a while and throw in our hats and give up saying it's not worth the wait as we abandon ship.  We all are waiting for one thing or another.  Some answers or timing will never come and to that we have to learn to be content.  We also have to be aware that our situation can change suddenly and quickly without warning!  No waiting is wasted as I have found in many cases this waiting period actually serves as a time of preparation for the answer.  This times allows us to realize how much we want something and how hard we are willing to fight for it and allows us to begin planning.  I wonder at times that if God answered right away, would many of us not be prepared to handle His solution?  Perhaps He knows we are not ready against our better judgment's and He is preparing our hearts and mind to deal with the solution in perfect timing.  Often times as we hit disappointments, they knock us off our feet harder and harder each time.  We feel despair and lose sight of hope that things will work out.  It is during this time of waiting that we feel isolated and lonely.  Life seems stuck in this one place, it is simply stalled. 

We recently received news that we will not be certified as a foster home the first weekend of May as we had previously been told.  The one thing we felt most certain about, that the dates were set in stone, that this was a sure thing we would complete the last class then just wait (yes more waiting but at least feel progress) for the call to come in for a placement.   May 4th was to be the day and with being less than 2 weeks away we are told to erase that plan and to continue to wait.  So we rushed, rushed, rushed and finished everything to meet the deadline and now there is no deadline and we are left disappointed again as there is no next class date scheduled.  We were told maybe end of May or mid summer or maybe fall....our social worker told me, "Welcome to the foster care system, nothing ever goes as planned or scheduled.  Get used to it!"  Ummmm thanks, let me take a ticket to wait for yet another thing in my life.  Knowing that if we had more in the bank account we would be adventuring down another route too but for now that must also wait. 

When it comes to infertility, it is all about waiting.  When you decide it’s time to have a family, you wait several months of “trying” before you speak to your doctor, who may advise you to wait a few more months before consulting a fertility specialist.  Eventually, you will be referred to a fertility doctor or you're like me and after seeing your doctor you take it upon yourself to find your own reproductive endocrinologist.  The wait to get in to see them takes months.  The doctor will likely order all manner of tests, and you wait for the appointments.  Then wait for the results.  Then wait for a consultation with the doctor again to discuss the results which you have to wait 6 weeks for their next appointment to go in just to be told the course of action options.  You will likely then be directed either to further testing, surgery, and/or treatment.  For which you wait.  In order to start treatment, you eagerly wait for your period, which can feel very strange after so long hoping NOT to get it!  Then you wait each day to take your magic pills or to give yourself an injectable shot.  During this time you go every few days for ultrasounds to monitor progress, well usually no progress so you go home and cry and return 2 days later with renewed hope for another ultrasound to see again no progress so go home and cry and repeat for 3 full weeks straight.  Then you usually don't get to even "try" as it is a failed cycle.  If you're lucky and things line up you do get to "try" then you anxiously wait for the pregnancy test.  You wait those two weeks.  If the news is bad, you wait for another chance to try all over again.  Often times the doctor wants you to come back in for an office appointment so you take their next opening which is 6 weeks away, lucky you.  If it is positive you wait for blood work results to see if things are progressing.  Then you wait for your first ultrasound to make sure there is a heartbeat which normally there isn't and they tell you it's early and normally you don't.  So you wait once again for your next ultrasound praying and hoping a heartbeat will be seen this time. 

It is perpetual waiting.  So many high's and low's and a lot of drugs in your body that wreck havoc on your hormones.  You turn into a crazy person who goes from enthusiastic cheerleader jumping up and down celebrating to terribly depressed crying insane person all within 5 minutes.  I now have knowledge of split personality disorders, you feel like two people all at once both on the verge of busting out but quickly the other stealing the limelight.  Brian and I keep ourselves busy during all of this waiting and we enjoy our lazy Saturday mornings and going out on dates without needing to line up a babysitter.  We try to not think about tomorrow and live in each current moment and not take our time together for granted.  It comes to a point though that you are just sick of waiting.  You are sick of hearing everyone say to be patient that it will happen in time.  You are sick of taking a number and just sitting out while it seems everyone around you is celebrating positive changes in their lives.  You are sick of seeing on Facebook yet another pregnancy announcement though you are truly happy for them it still stabs your already open wound of envy, you are sick of seeing pregnant teenagers everywhere, you are sick of hearing of yet another child murdered at the hands of their parent or a mothers boyfriend, you are just sick of it all but just can't escape it.  Here I am just enjoying my underachieving ovaries and trying to pretend to be patient with a screwed up foster care system.  Nothing can ever go right and you just can't catch a break.  It quickly becomes one full fledged frustrated pity party for one! 

"But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.  They will fly high on wings as eagles.  They In many cases this waiting period actually serves as a time of preparation for the answer.  If God answered right away, many of us would be ill-prepared to handle His solution.  Will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.” ~ Isaiah 40:31  

We are promised that we will find new strength but also that we may be ill-prepared.  We are not to grow weary but bask in the promise that there is a plan for each one of our lives.  Often times this is harder lived out than said.  Specifically the past year and a half I have felt my life has been stalled in this standstill spot.  Months are flying by but the days are slow and endless.  It makes no sense yet full sense all at once to anyone who has ever had to wait an extended period of time.  While we are waiting we will continue to keep our faith, serve others, and worship Him as we take each step in divine obedience.  We must wait and trust that His plan is what is best and know that when our time does come, all the waiting will seem so distant and our sincere pure joy will be ever so tangible....because our time is coming.

John Waller - While I'm Waiting

You Wanna What?!?!

Proverbs 22:6 “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

I find it rather amusing when people find out we intend on homeschooling our children.  Most the time awkward silence and huge protruding eyes of shock meet mine saying without needed words, "Sayyyyyyy whatttttt?!?!"


No I was not homeschooled and nor was Brian.  Brian went to public schools before private college and I always went to private Catholic schools and look at that, I ended up at a private Catholic college....honestly by chance as it wasn't a deciding factor but something that I soon realized after I chose it.  Very often I am met with so why do you plan on homeschooling if you guys weren't?  There are many reasons and my husband and I have discussed in great detail our child rearing plans.  Notice I use plans and know that plans do change.  Not every child does best in a homeschooling atmosphere due to their personalities and learning styles and there is a chance our whole "plan" may foil and we may decide a traditional schooling approach would be best fit for one child or another or all.  So keep in mind this is only our current "plan" and while we have no children now, we know that time will come in only a blink of an eye.  We are not talking about unschooling which is a whole different topic, our plan is to homeschool with actual lesson plans and following curriculum and state standards.  How long will we homeschool?  My gut feeling for unsaid children is we will only homeschool until they are high school age.  Again this is going to depend on the specific child and after praying and deciding what will be best for our current family dynamic and capabilities.  So what is our thinking of why to homeschool you may ask?  Well here are a few snippets of our thinking pattern which is the closest you can get to what we actually are thinking....crazy or not:

• Flexibility - This is such an important perk of homeschooling.  Having the flexibility to do schooling at any point during the day.  We can wake up early or late.  We can skip a day or two or we can school through the weekend.  We can do school here or we can do school there....we can do school anywhere (Ok I'll stop the Dr. Seussyness!).  Being able to be flexible is ideal as we would not have set times or days or so on where we needed to be one place or another allowing us the ability to schedule and plan out instead of around schooling we can with schooling. 
• Travel - With Brian traveling for his job a lot, we have the chance to trudge along with him on paid trips.  Especially trips that only entail a drive (as he uses a rental on their expense and gas - for plane trips his ticket would be paid for and we would need to pay our own) we could buckle up the kid(s) and hit the road with our books in tote.  While Brian is working we can visit museums, zoo's, monuments, etc. during the day and spend time as a family in the evening.  Not being tied down to a specific building from 8am-4pm, five days a week, we have the opportunity to travel and still be able to keep up with schooling or possibly even double up the week before or after a trip.  When we shape our lives around homeschooling we will quickly learn that every situation in life is a learning opportunity and the learning truly never ends when we put the books or projects away. 
• Make our own holidays - Going along with that same thought, we make our own holidays!  Instead of having just the summer, we can hit up places during the off season when other families are stuck at home because of traditional schooling.  We can save money during off season and beat the crowds.
• I'm home - This makes it even more ideal and easier.  We are a one-income family and Lord providing we will continue to be.  Being home gives me the perfect set up to stay at home and nurture and teach our children. 
• I have a degree - Yup I have a teaching degree and I'm not afraid to use it!  While I choose not to teach right now, I have a bachelors in teaching and am knowledgeable on learning/teaching styles, writing lesson plans (that meet state guidelines), proper development in children and realistic goals for them, endless teaching techniques, and so on.  While I honestly believe any parent could learn such things and successfully homeschool their children, I know I have the background to prove I can....state certified and all!
• Family time - As many warn us, time flies and children become adults in the blink of an eye.  We want the chance to spend as much family time together as we can.  We feel traditional schooling being gone for most of the day then having boatloads of homework in the evenings has a huge negative impact on family time.  By homeschooling, we also plan on Brian being a part of the teaching.  When he is home in the evenings he could teach specific lessons and be a part of our children's education which I find vitally important.  Often times moms find themselves swamped with everything, but by homeschooling I can put lessons aside for Brian to work on with the children as fathers are just as important as mothers. 
• Focus on the Individual - Having taught, I know it is impossible with 1 teacher and 30 students to designate individual time with each student.  When it comes to homeschooling, the child is able to be given more individualized time.  There is not too much time spent on the whole of keeping classroom management, but on the individual instead.  A child needs their mind and heart to be educated.  They need to build a love for learning and become lifelong learners constantly yearning to learn more and more as learning is never finished even once you have all the degrees. 
• Not Wasting Time - Going along with classroom management, think of how much time in a given class is spent on repeating directions, dealing with Billy who won't stay in his seat, telling Suzy to keep her hands to herself, telling Tommy to stop passing notes, having to stop class so everyone can sharpen their pencils, being done with a test or assignment and having to just sit there for 20 or so minutes waiting for everyone else to be done, needing extra time but not being able to have it because the teacher just keeps going with the lesson leaving you without the foundational knowledge and in the dust, taking time from class setting up each activity and then having to designate time set aside from class time for clean up, etc.  So much class time is spent on managing the mass and keeping order and correcting behaviors.   When homeschooling, there isn't a need for 8 hour school days as the same amount of learned knowledge can be taught to a single student on their own in 2-4 hours even with breaks since there are not so many distractions.  I'm a firm believer no child can learn sitting for 8 hours a day then come home and do 2 or so more hours of homework.  It is not healthy or developmentally possible for a child to remain focused for that long of a period of time.  We wonder why childhood obesity is an issue, we need to let our kids move and be active. 
• Teach Self Control and Desired Behaviors - Obviously being home and working with your child all day, you are able to get to the root of any behavior or self control issues.  Teaching and modeling desired behaviors and working on self-control is an important thing that a teacher of 30 students is just not able to teach on top of everything else jammed into the day.  When homeschooling, you have the opportunity to call them out and correct/teach them (yes behaviors and expectations are taught not just randomly learned) right away.  Nipping undesirable or inappropriate behaviors can be done immediately unlike in a classroom where they usually escalate and often times go unnoticed. 
• Nontraditional Learning Styles - Homeschooling will allow for each child individually be able to learn in their strongest learning style.  I'm a firm believer in hands-on learning and find it paramount to a child's way of learning.  Being able to take more field trips and learn by doing hands on activities is the fastest way of learning.  Not only can we learn about different studies by reading from a book, we can actually go to the places outside of a classroom and learn firsthand about our current subject.  In a traditional classroom this is just not feasibly as it would be limited on where and how often they can leave their four walls of a room. 
• Age of Technology - Living in an age of technology and computer programs, there is knowledge to be learned right at our fingertips.  Teachers aren't the only ones with knowledge, but now there are endless ways of learning.  There are even cyber schools set up through school distracts where students can somewhat homeschool from home in charter schools yet the parents don't need to do any lesson planning.  Now this route does often have set time periods where a student must be logged in so it is not really true homeschooling, but it is a hybrid type program available. 
• Opportunities Abound - The city and state are obligated to supply materials to homeschooling families.  There are also many grants set up for homeschooling parents.  Taking classes in the community such as swimming classes, art classes, horseback riding, Karate, etc. are available and funded for homeschool children.  I know when I taught that many districts were angry the schools funding had to be allocated to giving each homeschooled child a computer and offer reimbursement for educational activities though the child is not enrolled into their school.  We pay school taxes (a very hefty tax here in our city!) therefore our child(ren) should be able to receive necessary materials as that is what that tax is for, education.  We will take those opportunities available if they help aid in our child's education.  Also homeschooled children have the opportunity to take some mainstream classes if they want part time.  They can go in for a class at that certain time it is taught and then leave after.  This can be helpful if a child needs extra tutoring or instruction that you cannot provide.  So there are many opportunities!
• There are "Others" - Yes you heard right, there are many "others" out there doing this too!  I know in my specific area there is a plethora of other families who homeschool.  No we won't all be wearing matching handmade dresses and knitting all day together.  It is easy with the Internet to link up with other homeschooling families and share ideas and curriculum.  There are many homeschooling groups that get together for shared lessons on a weekly or monthly basis.  We will not be alone and can network and get together with others and yes we do intend on taking over Chuckee Cheese's during the day when it's vacant bahahahaha!
• No We Won't Be Weirdo's - Our children will be around other children, no we don't plan on keeping them locked up in our dark house unable to see sunlight or other human beings.  If anything, our children will likely be more wordly and go out and interact in our community while other children are stuck within four walls next to Charlie who smells and Mrs. Grinch who is a mean old woman counting down her days until retirement!  Our kids will take part in sports teams, play groups, and play with neighbor kids.   No we aren't ones for seclusion and we aren't making our own little cult, we intend and plan on being a part of our community and building friendships with others who both homeschool and go to mainstream schools.     
•  Moral and Religious Reasons - I would lie if I didn't say the most important reason above everything else why we intend on homeschooling wasn't for moral and religious reasons.  I know we cannot protect the innocence of our children and keep them in a g-rated world forever however there is no reason we cannot try to shelter them to a point.  I am not talking about not letting them know what is going on around us, but I am talking about protecting our children's innocence and letting them be kids.  Kids need to be kids plain and simple.  When teaching, I was shocked at the things I would hear daily.  Kids are mean and brutal and not every child is loved and nurtured.  It is a harsh reality knowing there are others out there who want to do harm to our children.  There are teachers whom are not properly equipped or in their right mind to work with children and only tear children down or abuse them.  We do live in a time where there are many cultural battles and politics swirling with teachers on strikes and not in their classrooms and such.  We don't need all that garbage in our children's daily lives to take away their innocence and put fear into their hearts and souls.  Our children need proper morals being taught and lived out amongst them.  It shatters my heart to know after the Newtown, Conn. shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School my own 8 year old sister was beyond terrified to go back to school.  My parents purposely kept the news off around her as to try to shield her from the tragedy, however she was well aware with keen ears and knowledge of what occurred as kids talk.  She was worried that the windows in her classroom were not bullet proof or that the same glass front door the perpetrator shot through and entered is the same door they have at her school.  This tragedy could have easily happened at her school or truly any school.  While I know shootings happen everywhere not just in schools and that thankfully they are rare occurrences, I know it pained my parents hearts to tell her she will be safe when in reality that isn't a promise they could truly make because they would not be there to protect her.    
• Raising Warriors - I don't want to raise my children just to be Sunday Christians, I want them to be warriors for Christ in this tough world.  The Lord entrusts us with them but a short time and we have our work cut out for us to pave the path for them to follow Him.  If they are in an institutional setting all day being shaped by a flawed school system then what are they really learning?  We are called to live radically and people will sneer and that is fine, but I want my children to be warriors not faithless refugees wondering around trying to find themselves while causing harm to others.  I'm not talking about raising my children with real swords and teaching physical ninja attack moves (ok maybe we will spend some time on taekwondo as wouldn't that be cool?!?!), but I am talking about equipping them for a spiritual war.  By homeschooling I am able to help them find and tune their God-give strengths and talents to be a change to this world.  I want them to battle not flee when opposition is at their door.  I want to empower them and form them to be courageous and to never back down.  These warriors will sacrifice and speak and protect the lowly.  They will not fear the world, but will be equipped with the tools to bring change and make a positive impact as citizens.  I want to teach them from a young age to be self-sufficient, self-motivated, selfless, and compassionate towards others which the youth of today surely are missing these key characteristics.  Teach them to be open minded but to protect their morals and not just conform to the status quo.  We are raising these warriors from babies/toddlers to boys/girls to become men/women to then become husbands/wives and to become fathers/mothers, but above all to be followers of Christ and be the light in this dark world.  By homeschooling I won't just have weekends and weeknights to invest in my children, but I will have each and every day to help them find their purpose and become the best person possible.         

As a side-note several people have asked if we plan to homeschool our foster children and that answer is very easy....nope!  The reason being is we are not permitted to first off by the state without permission which is near impossible to get unless they are with us for a very long placement (those are usually only kinship relative long term placements would the situation be allowed).  Secondly, chances are the child will not be with us for a lengthy period of time so right as we would get curriculum set up chances are they would be leaving.  Thirdly, there is a high probability that a foster child we take in came from a source of neglect and chances are high they will need special services (emotionally, physically, and mentally) to catch up to their peers.  In the school system, there are special certified individuals that can work with them one-on-one that specialize in working with children that come from hard places so they will be able to get all the specialized care they will need.  Now if permanency comes into play and we choose to adopt a child then likely we would pray and consider transitioning them to being homeschooled, but while they are in our temporary care, off to school they go....sorry no school bus experience as it isn't far seeing that it is next door/behind our house! 

National Infertiity Awareness Week

I saw on Facebook today that this week is National Infertility Awareness Week.  Those who are not new to my blog know this is something my husband and I have been battling with for almost 2 years come June.  Due to the wonderful diagnosis of a rather severe case of PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) that my world has been rocked with, we have found ourselves in this infertility club.  This is the type of club you never signed up for voluntarily and somehow no matter how much we refuse to pay dues, it just won't kick us out!  Honestly I was not even aware there was such a thing as a National Infertility Awareness Week until I saw several postings about it.  Ironically, this time last year on the 24th of this upcoming week, Brian and I found out we were expecting.  The baby did not make it and we have found ourselves stepping up the infertility ladder as we continually have upped the ante with fertility drugs and two necessary surgeries to no pregnancy avail since.  Also ironically, this Friday the 26th we have an appointment with the Reproductive Endocrinologist to come up with what our next game plan will be in which we have absolutely no clue what that will entail as we have been told nothing.  Sounds odd to have an appointment set up and the nurse not even be able to shed any kind of light on what it will encompass or options we may be going over but we just go with the flow I guess.  All I am hoping for is that Friday will give us some answers and above all possibly renewed hope since much has been lost to be honest.  The irony of what this week entails is nothing short of astounding.

So in honor of National Infertility Awareness Week I've decided to share some facts (would say fun facts however there is absolutely nothing fun about infertility let me tell you!)

 U.S. National Library of Medicine, Center for Disease Control reports:

1 in 6 couples is infertile, that is just shy of 20% of couples.

Infertility affects 7.3 million people in the U.S.

40% of cases the problem rests with the male, in 40% with the female, 10% with both partners, and in a further 10% of cases, the cause is unknown.

1 in 25 males has a low sperm count and 1 in 35 is sterile.

Only 20% of couples diagnosed with infertility will eventually become pregnant without treatment.

6% of U.S. births are conceived with ovulation treatment/stimulation medications.

Approximately 85-90% of infertility cases are treated with drug therapy or surgical procedures.

 Fewer than 3% need advanced reproductive technologies like in vitro fertilization (IVF).

67% of those treated for infertility will go onto have a baby.

In turn, 33% will never conceive.

15 states have passed laws requiring that insurance policies cover some level of infertility treatment: Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia.

Go Juri!!!!

Boy, born November 2007
Cerebral palsy, flail legs
Juri sits and crawls, but does not walk without support. The boy is very good, sociable and cheerful. He is very positive and bright! Can eat and dress without help. Juri is a favorite in the group, likes to play. He is very friendly and doesn’t create conflicts.  Also, he is very cute!

$1045.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

      

Donations are tax deductible.

 

Why am I fist pumping with the Situation?  (Yes this is the second time the Situation has been featured on my blog I shall admit)  Did you see that up there?  No, missed it?  Go back up and look again!  That's right, so far Juri has received $1045.00 in donations towards his adoption costs!  Why am I fist pumping?  Well in a matter of a week Juri's fund went from $45.00 to $1045.00 so $1000 towards his adoption has been raised due to the graciousness of someone or someones!  This is exactly what Brian and I have been praying for because the higher his grant fund, the higher his chances of finding his family!!!!

 

So join me please in a good fist pump (tutorial below for those unaware of proper fist pump technique....you're welcome!)

 

So in more realistic terms what does that mean?  Well with his adoption from start to finish costing about $25,000 in all (includes home study, background checks, visas, travel via plane and likely train in country and a driver to and from the orphanage, facilitator fee's and translator, lodging, food since you have to eat when you are there, etc. ) with his grant of $1045.00 that means he is a bit over 1/25th of the way there to being fully funded for his ransom! 

 

1 of the 25 brick walls has been smashed down....only 24 to go (makes it sound much more do-able huh!)....oh and he still needs a family to step up and make him their son!

 

 

Seasonal Friends

"To everything there is a season" Ecclesiastes 3:1

My mom throughout life has always said that all you need in life is one best friend.  As I am getting older I am learning this is more and more true.  I would rather have a few very close friends than a boatload of acquaintances to be honest.  I have found how through different stages of life I have had a handful of friendships blossom.  From grade school, to high school, to college, and now into married adult life.  I do consider myself very blessed that from each stage in my life I have at least one very close friend I can still claim as a best friend.  So what happened to the others?  Well due to circumstances of location or life we slowly parted ways.  At times it has been disappointing when you find you are putting everything into the friendship but it takes two sides of the coin for a healthy friendship to continue to exist.  Other times looking back I find myself the guilty one for not really putting in the effort as I moved on through stages of life to keep the relationship. 

Relationships are much like plants, you can choose to water them and let them live or forget to water or purposely give up on it and let it die.  Some plants can be successfully replanted elsewhere as we move through life while others will wilt and die when trying to be transplanted.  If we are lucky with some plants we may be able to prune off dead parts that are ugly and dead looking at a later time and that plant will begin to flourish once again much like a friendship that seemed to be once lost can re-bloom.  Sometimes it is the plants fault when it dies and perishes and other times it is your carelessness....sometimes it is equal. 

As I find myself right out of college as a young, married, home-owning homemaker I am truly finding how it has separated me from many of my close friends from college.  It is always said that most of your most treasured relationships will come from college friends which is so true.  Nowhere else will you have the opportunity to live amongst multiple people as you live in your little fake bubble becoming adults to only graduate and have that bubble popped by reality of "real life".  I would not change my college experience for anything and at times I wish we were all back there with our late night life chats sitting on the pull out couch or the crazy Taco Bell and Walmart midnight runs.  Compared to college, my life has really taken it down plenty of notches in the fun department.  Many relationships from college we all swore would never die but now being 2 years out I am finding myself only in close touch with a handful of individuals.  With distance and adult jobs and responsibilities, our time to simply breathe let alone stay in touch has dwindled.  I am learning many of those college friendships have come and gone and that life goes on.  If we both aren't willing to put in the effort than it just won't last.  I have hit a point in my life where I am learning that it is ok to let go.  It is ok to realize I am putting more into a relationship than the other side and it is ok for others to have greater priorities than me and I should just continue to walk forward leaving behind the relationship in the rearview mirror.  It is ok for I am sure in some relationships I put greater priorities over them.  Those people came into my life for one reason or another during a time we needed each other and just like that we no longer need each other for whatever reason so have parted ways.   

Perhaps I am in a new season of my life.  A season of hoping to form a family which will bring another whole season of friendships.  Life is messy and I need to keep only the good friends willing to put on their rubber boots and walk through it with us.  I am blessed to have several individuals I would consider best friends who I know no matter what are there to support not only me, but Brian too.  Those individuals and I put on our rubber boots happily as we move through the murky waters of each of our lives that are far from crystal clear.  Graduations, marriages, break ups, births, miscarriages, job promotions, graduate school,  heartaches and disappointments, and moments of great celebration, we are in it through the thick and thin, the good and the not so good.  We are intertwined in each others messy lives and we are each others greatest fans.  I am blessed I can call any of those friends crying in the most depressed state and vice versa and an eyebrow is never even raised.  I truly appreciate those who mutually choose to share their celebrations and greatest disappointments with us for without one another our lives would not be the same.  Life is a battle easier fought in numbers.  Perhaps we should all invest in some waders?!?!



Reason, Season, or Lifetime
People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.
Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
— Unknown

First Bedroom and Nursery Reveal!

Way overdo reveal of the first bedroom and nursery!  In order for our home to be approved we had to have the bedrooms set up and ready as if they would drop off a child(ren) today.  The first room we did was months ago but we finally got it pretty much all set up.  I don't have before's and only after's on my computer so those will just have to do! 

Revealing the Dot Room!

We kept this room gender neutral and bright and cheery just as you will see we did for the nursery.


Still considering a slipcover for our pull-out couch to make it blend into the room better.  Note the original hardwood floors we had to rip out the old carpeting and clean to uncover! 


The toddler bed is oh so cute!  This room would be for kids we take in that are likely 3-4+


The bunked beds


My girlfriend Megan helped Brian and I make these tie blankets.  We have the green blankets that are a single layer fleece on each bed but needed heavier blankets come winter time.  It was near impossible to find bright colored comforters especially since we wanted two in a twin size and one in a toddler size that all match so we decided to make them! 


Of course the room has a lot of books on the bookshelf....many of which are Dr. Seuss our favorite!


Even the ceiling fan was "pimped".....Ummm I mean "dotted"


The back of the door has a dry erase board we intend on being our "Welcome board" where we will write the child's name and it has cork board with push pins around the edges to hang pictures and other items on.

Here is the nursery reveal! 

The before's:

Notice tiny bit of the old carpeting


We were painting the walls white therefore everything was pushed into the center of the room.


Our friend Lindsey and her boyfriend help paint the walls white with us which we greatly appreciated!

The durings:


We used a laser level to create straight vertical lines for our stripes


We learned a trick that after you put your painters tape down you paint over with your under-color and wait for it to dry before you put your new color over.  By doing this, it seals the tape and any color that would leak is in its original color therefore wouldn't be noticed or seen.


Then the red and blue went up!


When waiting for the paint to dry, we replaced the dinky light in there with a ceiling fan


When we pulled the tape away we had perfect crisp lines throughout the room! 


It was then time to pull out the carpeting and padding!


Half way there, so happy taking this carpeting out meant we are completely carpet free in our home right now!  We likely will have carpeting in our basement but at least the first floor is now so easy to sweep and wash.  You never know how dirty carpeting is until you pull it out...makes you want to never ever even walk on carpeting again!

The Finished Product:

Looking into the room


When you walk in to the left side is the crib.  Love this crib because it was my families crib used for each of us kids beyond Mary Grace.  We put on the plastic edges to baby proof it.  We still need to make a dust ruffle to hide the diapers and wipies under the crib.  We made the crib tie blanket the exact same as the ones in the dot room.  We purposely did so if we would need to move any of the beds around they can each go in either room and coordinate well. 




Changing table holding our new gang of Dr. Seuss characters plush toys.  We are planning to put them all on a shelf but for now they are hanging out on the changing table until then.




Love the Dr. Seuss quotes throughout the room!




The rocking chair my parents bought when I was born.  Such a precious treasure to now have in our nursery.  It must have been meant to be in our nursery since the original red seat cushion matches perfectly! 




Another view of the crib and the new ceiling fan light we installed



Don't worry Tucker.....you will always be our baby too!!!!!

What Are and Aren't We Doing?

First off, fire inspector came and approve out home!  That was our last bit that we had to do for our home study so hoping our social worker has her stuff done so we can submit shortly!

I have received a few questions from several different people wondering what the heck we are or aren't doing when it comes to fostering.  Some have asked if we have a specific child in mind to adopt?  Three people asked specifically why we aren't stepping up to adopt Juri whom we just signed up to be prayer warriors for.  On top of that I know several people have asked if we will be adopting a child from the orphanage in Honduras since we love it there so much and what about the boy we have sponsored?  Also I was asked if we have run out of infertility options and this is all we have left to go to?  So while I thought I was clear with what our intentions are (at least for today that is) I thought I would clarify these and several other things as perhaps my words haven't been straight forward or some of you are new readers and haven't read through my other posts!  First off before I say anything, I'm going to be totally upfront and honest and say this is where we are at as of today this very day.  What tomorrow brings or in 6 months time or a year from now could be completely totally different.  Our intentions and motivations may change so I want to say firstly I will never say never for who knows what the future and God's will may bring but for now I will just answer the questions above from today's perspective!

To start I have been very candid about our infertility shenanigans.  In a way this has become a journal for myself and helps document everything.  While I never intended on being so honest it hit me that there truly is no real reason to stay hush hush about everything.  It was something we (mostly I) suffered with quietly without many people knowing about it, however I decided to step out and not be afraid to share our journey with others as I figured more prayers and good wishes never hurt!  As for where we are with the whole infertility thing, no we have not hit a dead-end or anything of the sort.  We have not run out of options and in a few weeks we have an appointment with the Reproductive Endocrinologist to go over what the next steps will be.  Every few months we meet up to discuss where we are at so this is routine.  At this time we still intend on moving forward with the infertility stuff though right now we aren't 100% what route that will entail until after our appointment.  I know I have said it before, us becoming foster/adoptive parents actually has nothing to do with our infertility stuff.  Many close friends and family knows we intending on becoming foster parents after our first anniversary as you have to be married for a whole year before you can start classes which is what we waited for then jumped into it.  Due to Brian being out of town on an extended assignment in Chicago during the week right after our anniversary we were not able to be in the first groupings of classes after our first anniversary and they took off the fall into winter classes due to all the holidays so we then had to wait for the  next round of classes that started in January.  Am I happy with the timing?  Of course as it is something that is going in a positive direction as the infertility stuff has been rather stale.  If we become pregnant do we still plan to foster?  Yup we sure do!  As long as we can handle everything we will do so however if we become overwhelmed or want to put our home on hold and not take any placements for a while we are able to do that at any time for as long as we would like.  It only would take a call to take us off the list.  The great thing about fostering is we have control when it comes to being open or closed and what placements we take etc.  We are not pressured to take a placement if we are too busy or do not think it would be a fit and we can temporary tell them not to call until yada yada yada time be it a month, six months, or even a year or so on. 

Now we DO NOT have a specific child in mind.  We are going into this with intentions on fostering.  Fostering is temporary, adoption after court is permanent.  Yes we got duel certified as adoptive parents too because for the home study it is easier to be duel certified then if we end up wanting to take an adoptive placement or wish to adopt a child or children whom we are fostering we would need to start the home study process all over again and resubmit everything to the state to approve.  So in a way we are killing 2 birds with 1 stone.  Everyone in our pre-service classes were told to become duel certified to save time and hassle even if you have no intentions of adopting as your heart may change.  In our case I am sure at some point we will likely adopt a child but for right now that is not our goal right now.  Our goal is to be foster parents and take in children who need a temporary home while their parents work their case plan so they can be reunited.  Reunification is the main goal of foster care.  We were told in our county about 3 out of every 4 children return to their birth parents and the other 1 out of 4 tend to go into relative care placements first and then if not placed there usually the foster parents adopt them.  If the foster parents do not wish to adopt them for whatever reason they are then made available for others to submit their home study for.  For a young child a social worker can received hundreds of home studies from throughout the U.S. for a certain child who is available.  The social worker and her staff then have a staffing meeting and go through each of the home studies until they pick a handful out and then narrow it down from those few chosen and decide which family would be the best fit for that child.  It is a long complex and honestly aggravating system as we have heard people that go into fostering with intentions of adopting and only after 10 placements and having to let go of 9 children they wanted to adopt do they finally adopt a child that comes into their home 2 or 3 years later from when they started everything.  Now you can be approved as an adopting only home and only take in children that are legally at risk to coming into permanent custody (meaning they or a sibling has come into care in the past and it is almost 100% certain the judge will revoke rights) but even then relatives can still step up out of nowhere so nothing is ever straight forward until the adoption is officially granted in court.  Again though if you are an at-risk or adoptive only placement chances are most children who do come into care will be adopted by their foster parents and most children that come in and are made available down the road it was unknown their cases would turn out to be an adoptive placement to begin with so your best luck if you want to adopt is to be a foster parent and wait for a placement to become available though it could take several placements and possibly even never happen.  The agency makes it known upfront that fostering and even foster-to-adopt the goal is always reunification unless a judge deems it necessary for the parental rights to be revoked then relative, then foster parent, then open to anyone with a home study is what the pecking order is.  If we wanted to strictly adopt I do not think this would be the way we would go because of all the uncertainty however for us going in with the mindset that this is temporary if something does become permanent it would only be an extra blessing! 

So why are we not adopting Juri?  As I stated above we do not intend on proceeding with adopting right now especially an international adoption.  For those who are not aware, adopting domestically here in the U.S. through an agency who works with placing babies directly from birth mothers to your care is anywhere between $20-$50,000 for one baby.  Yup that's a lot to swallow!  Even through Catholic charities though they state they have a sliding fee based on your income, I looked out of curiosity and they are on par with their fee schedule as any other private agency.  It is a money making business period, sad but true.  Now for Juri he is in Eastern Europe and his adoption would cost about $20-$25,000, most of which that amount is for the traveling a family would need to do of two trips so plane tickets there and back twice for the parents and then a one-way ticket for him, lodging in country, food, transportation to his specific region from the capital and to and from the orphanage each day and so on.  The actually adoption proceedings and facilitator fees are much less but with travel it jacks up the price.  So with those numbers in mind that alone is one reason we aren't proceeding with adopting internationally or domestically through a private agency.  Will we ever?  Perhaps, but definitely not right now.  We would want at least some money saved and likely we would need to do countless fundraisers to raise enough money to pay for a child's "ransom" to bring them home.  Would we adopt Juri in that case?  Never say never but that is something we haven't even talked about we really haven't gone there.  We chose him to pray for him and raise awareness and that's it.  We know if we decided to make that leap of faith and adopt from Eastern Europe God would show us who He meant to be ours and I'll just leave it at that.  Right now we don't feel the pushing urge to proceed in that direction and we know financially while we are more than able to raise a child, that upfront chunk of change is too much to swallow right now.  To be honest we don't know if we would even be able to get enough outside support with grants and donations from our family and friends community to cover the hefty cost.  If we won the lottery and the money was there we would reconsider adopting a child or children, but right now we feel fostering is the right direction for us and if that brings an adoptive situation (adopting through foster care is little to no cost) then fine we could handle that if we choose to. 

Why aren't we adopting from the orphanage in Honduras?  To put it bluntly, we can't.  The orphanage is a private Catholic orphanage.  Children available for international adoption from Honduras only live in the government orphanages.  The orphanage in Honduras we go to has custody of the children, they are not in government care.  On top of that, like Eastern Europe, it has similar costs and a much more lengthy adopting process.  Eastern Europe right now is flying 6-9 months from start to finish to adopt which is super fast compared to most international countries!  For Honduras, waiting for a referral of a child to adopt from a government orphanage to bringing them home takes about 2-3 years so it's a LONG process and one we likely would not even apply for even if we wanted to adopt internationally.  How about the boy we sponsor?  First off again he was never available to even be adopted plus he is now 19 and too old to be adopted (once you turn 16 you can't be adopted into the US from another country due to immigration laws) and further more there are laws that you need to be so and so much older than your adopted child and we are just way too close in age it would never fly. 

So there is what we aren't and what we are doing.  We are fostering and have a pretty open age group of birth-8 years old, up to two children (siblings or two unrelated placements at once), open to either gender, and are open to all ethnicity's except for black children.  Reason being except black (not going to say African American as very few are even African decent) is our community has very few to no black individuals.  All of our friends that are black are not local so talk about standing out.  I watch the kids get off the bus right next to us at the elementary school (which is the school a school age child if placed with us would go) and not a single black child gets off a bus out of the hundreds of kids.  Trust me, I've looked!  I think being a foster child is enough to make one stick out, but then to be outside of their known community and to stick out even more would just not be fair to a child.  Plus how would I even do a little black girls hair?!?!  I remember at the salon I get my haircut at a black woman was complaining that none of the woman there even know how to do black hair...that would be an issue!  I still wonder how I would do any girls hair, but make it black hair and I'd be done for.  So for us right now we feel this is our only real exception and our social worker completely agreed and said she questioned based on our community if it would even be a good idea.  She also made it clear we don't need any reasons ever to explain ourselves and whatever we are open to is what we are open to, no one is raising eyebrows and it is only our choice.  She said if we want to take in only purple children then that is perfectly fine....but we would likely be waiting for some time :) 

I hope this was enough clarification to those that poised questions.  I love getting questions as they tend to explode into blog posts!  If any of my readers have any questions never hesitate to shoot me a text or message or even call.  I love when others message me with their input and thoughts on my different posts and my posts have been known to be brought up during lunch with my girlfriends and lead to great discussions.  Who knew when I started blogging that I would have the outpouring of support and readers that I do!

Life is Like the Weather

The past few days we have had gorgeous weather until today's thunderstorm which reminded me how life can truly parallel weather.  Like the weather, life may change in a moment of time.  At times we can feel or see the changes coming and other times we are blindsided with a change that is unpredictable, dramatic, and sudden.  Like life, weather can't be predicted too far out.  We can make plans however we have no control over the weather, we can't stop the rain, snow, lightening, or sleet from coming or its timing.  We are powerless in the circumstances of the weather just as we are sometimes in life.  We check the weather before deciding when to take a trip or vacation just like life we base our decisions on what we see in the forecast to come.  Those that run to better warm weather like Florida though may be running into other weather problems such as hurricanes that can be just as dangerous if not more.  While in a storm it may be too dangerous for us to continue our journey or trip.  We may be stuck under a bridge seeking out shelter until the storm rolls over just as in life we may be stuck in moments of waiting.  While we may not be able to choose where the lightening will strike, we can choose where we seek refuge and choose to go.  In life we can choose where we seek refuge be it our faith, relationships, drugs, etc.  Instead of waiting sometimes we may choose to drive into the storm though we are unable to clearly see through our windshields where we are going.  We risk not only crashing ourselves but sometimes by trying to go against the storm we end up crashing into others and hurting them too.

Sometimes all we have built up can in one moment be destroyed by a violent strong wind.  Those winds sweep in and knock us onto our butts leaving us behind with insurmountable damage.  While the weather can cause great damage, it can also be an opportunity to start anew and build something sturdier from the ground up.  The rain may come and pour down hard but when it is over in turn it cleaned up debris that was once there.  All the dirtiness can be washed away leaving a clean slate and a beautiful rainbow.  At times we may smile during the storm as we see the light at the end of the front coming and the sun shining once again.  As big black clouds may loom over us we may not be able to see the end though.   Without being prepared with a flashlight, we may be stuck in pitch black darkness wandering with our arms out in front us trying to reach and feel for something we know.  We don't just stand in place because we know it won't get us anywhere so we take the risk of trying to feel out our area so we can find the fuse box switch, candle, or hidden flashlight.  The more familiar we are with the area and darkness the easier it is to navigate.  When in darkness, the moments that the lightening strikes and the light flashes illuminate everything, it is then we can begin to see the beauty.  The darkness may return right after but we simply wait a few more minutes in the darkness for the next lightening to flash so we can soak up every moment there is light and we can see before us. 

While some seek security from a storm in their basement or under a bridge, there are others out there that chase storms with wild abandonment.  They seek the high and rush from their encounters with different storms.  They go storm to storm living on the edge risking everything.  Those are the extremists we see around us in life that devote their lives to a greater cause, take a different path in life, jump off a cliff starting with a giant leap of faith, or even those that always seem caught up in a storm of some sort.  Just as with the weather, one area may be affected with dark clouds pouring down buckets of endless rain when another area in close proximity is experiencing clear skies, warm weather, and bright sunshine.  With life, those around us may be in a terrible endless storm while we stand right next to them with calm peaceful weather.  We should always try to be aware of what type of weather another area or person is dealing with even though sometimes the storms are kept hidden and are hard to view or easily overlooked.   

While we are in the different changes of weather, we need to learn to adapt and adapt quickly.  While in snow we learn to bundle up and wear boots for protection.  For protection from the rain we use an umbrella to shield us.  Many of us even have emergency supplies set aside ahead of time for when the unpredictable weather strikes as we want to be prepared as much as possible in life.  It is the extreme weather that makes us appreciate the calm and sun in-between the storms of life.  Of course without the change in weather, life would be very predictable and boring so perhaps we need these drastic changes in the weather and our lives to keep it all interesting.  The troubling weather when calmed sure does let us appreciate the rainbows and sun that may follow.

Gear Up, We Need More Prayer Warriors!

When Brian and I contacted Reeces Rainbow about the sibling group "Samuel" and "Sara" (whom have a family now working to adopt them!) we were introduced to the role of a Prayer Warrior.  The prayer warrior program is for a family to become designated "prayer warriors" for a specific waiting child.  There is no cost to participate so everyone can easily become a part of the program.  I blogged a while ago about how we are commanded to care for orphans and that even if we can't adopt we still can do something...well here is your something!  The more prayer warriors the better as these kids need desperate prayers!  Reeces Rainbow is a ministry that lists and finds families for international orphan children mainly with down syndrome, but has branched out to include "Other Angels" which are children with other special needs be it physical, mental, or even just sibling groups or older children that are hard to place due to age. The objective of a prayer warrior is that you will pray daily for your specific waiting child that they are receiving the proper care and all their needs are being met, that they are being loved on, and that their forever family will see them and they will be moved to the "My Family Found Me" page as a family proceeds with their adoption.  Our role is to pray for that child now as they wait, continue to pray for them when hopefully a family steps up to make them their own, then we will continue to pray for them during the process, and also even once they are home in the loving arms of their parents!  Prayer is a powerful thing and when you pick out the specific child you wish to pray for you potentially (and most likely) are the only person out there saying a prayer for that dear child which is sad but realistically true.  We were jumping for joy when we found out "Samuel" and "Sara" were chosen after praying so hard for them.  It is amazing when you see your prayers become fruitful and we look forward to following their new family's journey as they work to bring them home!

So most recently Brian and I decided to become prayer warriors!  If you feel led to chose a child you and your family would like to pray for, a listing of the waiting children can be found here: http://reecesrainbow.org/new-family/thechildren
The children are in different categories: the children with down syndrome are split by age and gender, the other angels are split by age and gender as well, HIV+ children are split by age, and then there are the other angels sibling groups category.  I will warn you, once we started to go through the listings we became overwhelmed with the multitude of waiting children.  According to statistics there are 143,000,000 orphans in the world today.  The groups we went through while the listings of faces seemed endless however knowing there are 143 million orphans out there, these few listed children are only a minute example of children needing parents put it all into perspective.

To pick our prayer warrior child we decided to go through the HIV+ and the other angels boys and girls 0-5 and 6-9 groupings.  We opened new windows when a child stuck out to either of us and once we were done going through those six groupings we then went back through the children that stuck out to us that we saved.  After prayerful consideration and about 8 kids we pulled from the long listings, we both decided we wanted to become prayer warriors for "Juri"!  It was actually Brian that really selected "Juri" as he said he was the only one that seemed perfect for us to pray for and I agreed with his decision that we could be his prayer warrior.  I am partial to "Juri's" green eyes (or hazel as Brian insists they are called) as my husband is also a green eyed babe :)



Once you select a child you can go to this page: http://reecesrainbow.org/sponsorship/prayerwarriors and fill out the form to be formally matched as a prayer warrior for that child.  Since selecting "Juri" we have both prayed daily for him and will continue to do so. 



Here is "Juri" (they use alias names for privacy so that is not his real name):
http://reecesrainbow.org/53217/juri
His snippet bio states this:
Boy, born November 2007
Cerebral palsy, flail legs
Juri sits and crawls, but does not walk without support. The boy is very good, sociable and cheerful. He is very positive and bright! Can eat and dress without help. Juri is a favorite in the group, likes to play. He is very friendly and doesn’t create conflicts.  Also, he is very cute!



So "Juri" is 5 years old and will turn 6 sometime in November and lives in Eastern Europe.  We were also able to view a short video of him and he is just a doll!  The undated video highlights him standing with a walker on his own trying to take some steps and then laughing, giggling, and throwing balls as he plays in the ball pit.  After coming across this little video gem we knew we found the diamond in the rough and it cemented our decision to be his prayer warriors!  Seeing him standing on his own, we are sure with physical therapy and possibly surgery and/or leg splints "Juri" could be running in no time!  He also can be seen chatting it up in the video and he looks like such the talker and is said to be very bright. 























(Does he look mischievous or what?)

These are more recent pictures we are led to believe:



He is said to be in a great orphanage (as good as an orphanage could possibly be for a child) right now but once he is older (could even be transferred this year due to his age) he is destined for an invalid institution much like where "Samuel" is living if his family is not found soon! There is $45 in his grant fund and we pray it increases as it has been proven the more donated funds in a child's grant fund, the easier it is to find them a family. 

















 






Plus he's ticklish!!!!



This is an older picture of him hanging out in a high chair:


So who will be your chosen prayer warrior child?!?!
(Be sure to send me a message of which child you choose if you decide to join our militia of prayer warriors!)