HairBows for Nepal

These are the bows we made to send to Nepal, The fundraiser bows will be fuller, with more layers of fabric and will have a card with a photo from the latest FCW to trip to Nepal.

Some of the Nepal Girls receiving their Hair Bow Gift.

Help For Nepal.

Most of you have heard about the Earthquake in Nepal. To many of us Nepal seems so far away, and we give little thought to the devastation there. But, really the world is not that big, we can be any where, including Kathmandu in less than 24 hours. Just a couple of months ago Matt texted me from Nepal while riding an elephant in the jungle. Technology has made the corners of the world more accessible, more real, and easier for you and I to make a difference. Our excuses are few...Over 7300 people have lost their lives, many more have had their lives completely changed.

I see it in their faces, these children could be my children, many look like my sweet Addie, who was born in a province of China very close to the area effected by the Earthquake. Precious, loved, yet, insecure of their future, since disaster has struck their already poor land.

In the case of any tragedy, like the earthquake in Haiti, there are many organizations that you could give money to. Unfortunately, they don't always use the resources in the best way to benefit the people. We are involved with Forgotten Children Worldwide, (FCW), www.forgottenchildren.org  and have been working in Kathmandu, Nepal for several years, Matt has traveled to Nepal yearly for the past 3 years. Our partner there, Pastor Tej, an orphan himself, cares for over 30 orphans. FCW is already making a big difference throughout Nepal, sponsoring several orphan homes, helping to set up a farming project, and funding a self-sustainability bus project, which generates income to care for the children.

On the day of the earthquake children were all in church during the earthquake and they were safe. But, the orphan home had been damaged. For now they have been staying with Pastor Tej's brother and his wife Hannah, (both former orphans who now care for 6 foster children) In their tiny 2 bedroom 20 x 20 home they are now caring for all of the children, almost 40 kids. Resources, food and clean water are limited.

This is Hannah, the FCW team was so impressed with her, she cares and loves these foster children in her home, (pictured), This home is where the kids from the orphan home in Kathmandu have been staying since the earthquake. That's over 40 people in one tiny house!

FCW has a goal of $30,000 to help repair the orphan home. 100% of the money donated will go directly to fulfill this purpose. Alydia and I were brainstorming ways that our whole family could make a difference. Last February, Alydia and Addie made hairbows for their daddy to take to Nepal and give to the girls. These were "girl to girl"  gifts meant to bless and let the girls know that they are loved, precious and cared for.


The bows were such a hit in Nepal that we are going to make hairbows as a fundraiser to rebuild the orphan home, to restore hope to these children and once again let them know that they are loved and important and most importantly not forgotten. Your girl will look adorable in her new hairbow, made just for her! We are making this a whole big family project! We are getting the cousins and some friends involved as well. There will be boys cutting, little girls layering fabrics, big girls sewing, big boys gluing, a job for everyone!


Please email me or leave me a message and we will send you 1,2 or 10 Hairbows:) We are suggesting a donation of $10. The whole donation will go directly to the FCW Nepal disaster fund. You can email me at Elizabeth@forgottenchildren.org. or leave me a message on facebook. If you would like to help us sell the bows, we will be glad to send a package to you with as many as you can promote for us! Remember, all of the proceeds from the bows will go directly to rebuild the orphan home, every cent. Thanks for making a difference and helping teach our kids of the value of serving.

 

ONE YEAR!!!!

One year! One year since I saw my baby girl for the very first time. One year since I held her in my arms. One year since I discovered my baby was going to take a lot of love and patience before she would even tolerate me. One year later and we are still completely smitten with love for our little Adalynn.

One year since our amazing China trip. One year since we met our travel buddies and formed lifetime friendships with them. One year since our amazing-better than anticipated adventure.

What a difference a year makes. Adalynn has blended in PERFECTLY with our family. All of us absolutely adore her, and can't imagine our family without her. It feels good to be together, to have everyone in one country, one home, one family. It was a strange feeling before she came home. Knowing that our daughter was born, that she was somewhere in the world being cared for by someone, but not us. When we adopted Eli the process was quick..not without bumps..but it was fast. From the time we sent in our paperwork until we traveled home with Eli was only 7 months. With Adalynn we originally entered back into the Ethiopia program, eventually switching to China, and then waiting. The process of finding our daughter was really 24 months. Two years, of our family in limbo waiting for the 4th piece to the puzzle. Now we feel pretty complete.

Daddy or ("Nana" as she calls him) is still her favorite. But, I am a close second, and I enjoy every minute of being with her. Alydia thinks that Adalynn is the best sister she could have hoped for, Landon adores her, and Eli is very tender with Addie. We love everything about this girl. Her personality, her spunkiness, her laugh, the funny things she says, the way she dances, the way she cuddles. We even love that she is absolutely a "Daddy's Girl."

If I think too long about the 19 months of her life we missed it really makes me sad. I think back to the moment she was abandoned, just hours old, I think about who wrapped her in the blanket. Did they kiss her on the forehead? Who choose the perfect place? The safest place, in front of a hospital, to leave her to be FOUND. Yes, our Adalynn was abandoned, but I BELIEVE with my whole heart she was never forgotten. Not forgotten by her birth parents, not forgotten by her foster parents, not forgotten by the ONE who created her. Weeks after she she was found, the orphanage placed an ad in the newspaper with her picture. While she was unclaimed, she was never unwanted. She was wanted, prayed for and chosen by us. How grateful I am to the cleft lip and palate that made it possible for her to be our daughter. How blessed we are to have the privilege to raise her.

If you have missed out on our blog or adoption story, feel free to read back through our China posts, and the "Worth It" post about the rocky start Adalynn had with me. It's been amazing and absolutely positively worth every moment!

 Oh What a difference a year makes!!!

 My First moment with my little Adalynn.

This was on the first night. She stopped crying the moment her daddy took her. And still hasn't changed. Look at the above picture, she is still a little possessive.


 

Happy Birthday Adalynn!!!!!

Happy Birthday Adalynn,
Look who is 2 and loving the attention! What a blessing it is to celebrate this day with our precious girl. April 24, 2011. The day our baby was born. April 25th, 2011 the day she was left to be found. Oh my heart!

I can't believe that it has been only 5 months that we have had the privilege of parenting this perfect daughter for our family.

I can't help but, wonder if her birth mother thinks of this day. I can't imagine the heart wrenching decision she had to make, one that so many other women in China, have to make. I wonder if she was shocked by her daughter's physical appearance, I wonder if she was scared, and saw it as a curse. I wonder if she wanted to keep her baby, but, could not stand the stigma it would bring. I wonder if she wanted a girl but NEEDED a boy. I wonder if offered only one opportunity to have a child, if she needed that child to be perfect. I wonder if she considered the risk to herself if she was caught leaving her baby. I wonder if under the same circumstances I would have done the same thing, and if I would have had the courage to follow through. Oh how grateful I am to be on this side of the story.

But, most of all I am so grateful, to have THIS daughter as my own. I am so grateful to her birth mother for her brave decision. In China, there are over 13 million abortions every year, and that is only what is recorded. Cleft lip and Palate can be identified on an ultrasound, so how grateful I am that Adalynn's birthmom either did not have an ultrasound, or CHOSE to give life to her baby despite her birth defect. Praise God, who loves Adalynn and her birth mom, who offers a hope and a future for all, even in China.

She must have known she could not have much time with her baby, as a cleft baby cannot nurse. She had to be quick, she needed a plan. I wonder what she thought as she wrapped her baby, my sweet daughter, in a red floral blanket. I have to think the gesture was out of love, as the red cloth in Buddhist tradition means, "go well and good luck." She took great risk to leave her baby in a very public place right outside of a hospital on the side walk. I wonder if she came in the night. I wonder how long my sweet girl was alone. I wonder if her birth mom waited to see someone find her. I wonder if she counted the seconds, the minutes. After a child is abandoned, China issues an add in the paper looking for someone to claim the child before they can place the child for adoption. I wonder if her birth mom, waited and saw the announcement in the paper, I wonder if, as I have a copy of that announcement, she has a copy too.

I look back at what we were doing on April 24 2011. That day I emailed Matt, telling him that I thought we should transfer out of the very unstable Ethiopia adoption program and go China special needs. His exact words, were "No, I want to go back to Ethiopia, NOT China, and whatever we do I don't want a baby!" Oh the irony of it all. Especially, that he absolutely adores her, as we all do. We also absolutely love having a "baby" in the house! I find myself really sad that she is turning 2. I want to push pause, she is growing up too fast. I feel like I have missed so much of her little life, oh how I long to have had held and loved my "baby" when she was indeed a "baby."

One thing is for sure, even with her strange favoritism for daddy, I love this little girl. The same that I would have loved her if I carried her for 9 months and gave birth to her. She is my daughter. Adoption is not always "love at first sight" often love comes much later. But, I loved this girl from the time I saw her across the room as we entered, I loved her in the whirlwind "gotcha day" of rejection, followed by much, much more rejection.

 Here she is rocking out on her new Barbie Microphone!

 I love that when she smiles really big, her eyes disappear!

 Nightly tradition, cookies, and ilk with daddy! Tonight it is mini smores cups, something a little special for the birthday girl!

 Posing in one of her new night gowns from grandma! This is the only pose, where she wasn't exposing her diaper!

Adalynn loved opening her gifts! She was so excited about this dress from Aunt Terri that she insited on wearing it Monday morning, refusing the clothes I had out for her and she went to get this! 

Adalynn playing on the ipad..and yes, she can totally operate it, while Matt works on his laptop.

 Adalynn can now sing Happy Birthday along with us. Which is adorable cute with her limited ability to form words. She enjoyed her birthday just as much as any other 2 year old would.

Last year on her 1st birthday she was in the hospital having her cleft lip repaired in China. We are grateful that she we got to celebrate her 2 birthday this week! Next Thursday May, 2nd she has surgery at Riley Hospital to repair her palate. She will need more surgeries, but, this should be the last for a while! We are anxious to have her palate repaired but, are not looking forward to this surgery at all.

China Medical Exam!

The last round of appointments were in Guangzhou China, about a 3 hour flight from Lanzhou. Guangzhou is in Southern China, and the climate is similar to Florida, so we were really glad to get there, and ditch all of our eskimo gear! Guangzhou is a big city, and much more diverse, than Lanzhou.
Our hotel was fabulous! Our accommodations in Gansu province were rough. But, not the case at the Guangzhou Marriott! We had a beautiful room, and for the 1st time in our trip, a shower where the water actually got hot, and a toilet that didn't have a gross smell. The breakfast buffet was amazing, and in the hotel many of the staff spoke English.

Being in Guangzhou felt like a vacation complete with lots of adventure! I will share those adventures later, and let me tell you THERE ARE STORIES!

On our first full day in Guangzhou, we had to go for Adalynn's embassy medical exam. Everyone adopting from any province in China ends up here. I bet there were 100 kids being adopted, most staying in our hotel. Some of this busy day seems like a blur now, I couldn't tell you what the building looked like on the outside, but, it was pretty impressive inside. The part that really gets me, is just how emotional this day was for everyone. To look around at all of these families who were adopting, and all of these precious children. Some were babies, some were older kids. Some had mild needs and some with very severe needs. We saw kids with Downs Syndrome, kids missing appendages, a couple kids that were missing their ears, many with unrepaired cleft lip, which admittedly can be a little shocking if you haven't seen it before. There was one little girl who had her feet strapped to some sort of board. There was a little girl about 8 who had one leg and foot that was only about 6" from her hip the other leg was normal but, when she would walk she would have to squat down and walk in an almost seated position to accommodate both legs, but, when she would stand she would be regular height as she would stand on her "normal" leg, I can't help but, think what American orthopedics can offer her, and the wonderful improvements to her life and mobility that will take place with her new family.

You can imagine with 100 kids, and families to match, just how loud and hectic it was. Many of the families were not American, so we heard many languages in the noise. Mandarin, French, German, Spanish, English, and at the same time in the same space. There were parents trying to calm there new children, and some families devastated to learn that the needs of their child were much more significant than they had planned. Babies and toddlers who were screaming, (none louder than mine though:) Older kids who just looked terrified. There were parents of all ethnicities, all different backgrounds. And everyone was here to make a home and family for an orphaned child. To say..LIFE MATTERS, wanted, unwanted, planned, unplanned, healthy and with "defects", here, there, anywhere, LIFE has worth and a purpose, and every child deserves the unconditional love of a family.

"I will not leave you as orphans..I will come to you." John 14:18
This medical appointment for me was probably the clearest and purist time I have seen this verse demonstrated. It was the perfect illustration, of God's redeeming love and the way He adopts each and everyone of us, "defects and all."

 For your viewing enjoyment, our Adalynn and her dislike of everything, and everyone other than her daddy!

 At the appointments, they took her weight and height, we saw a ENT doctor a general doctor and a surgeon for the kids who had done or needed surgery. I am pretty sure this was just a formality to make sure the kids didn't have any communicable diseases before there Visas were issued, as the appoitments were not very thorough. The doctors and nurses spoke little to no English. Matt had tried to ask about a strange rash that Adalynn had, but, I told him to give up, we would deal with it when we got home. She was OURS rash and all!

 Teri playing "Peek" with little Samuel. In Mandarin "BOO" means NO. So Peek-a boo, just becomes Peak!:)

 3 boys getting their new sister! Wow! Little Jasmine is in for an adventure!

 More confirmation! If you want to know the significance that Mickey Mouse is to our family, you can read back to my blog post entitled, "Mickey Mouse Confirmation."

 Bless Shari! I am sure she is trying to communicate the word, "behave" to little Hannah, and Hannah is probably replying in Mandarin "Beeyet" which means "I don't want to" one of her favorite phrases, that had the rest of our group laughing all of the time..not so funny for poor Shari!

 Yes, this picture is on her visa! I will have to post the close up version later, it is hillarious, and so typical of those 1st weeks with Adalynn!

 Finally, over..for this day!