Before and After - Reece's Rainbow Miracles

So the last blog post featured some before and after pictures that were heartbreaking. The faces of sweet orphaned children before and after transfer. My heart shudders just thinking of those precious ones fate... God be with them. Please pray with me, for all of the waiting children across this world of ours. If you are friends with me on Facebook and have wondered why I am constantly sharing the photos of orphans, blog posts about them, and links to auctions and other fundraisers for families who are in the adoption process, this is why. Because these kids need and deserve families. Because love makes a difference.

Today though, I want to show you a very different kind of before and after photo. Photos of children before being adopted and photos of them after their families have found them and brought them home. See what love can do.

Andre before and after!

Silas before, and only 4 months after coming home!

Sophia Grace. Four years old....ten pounds.
Second photo is six weeks home.

Anita before, and Anita 8 months home.

Aleshia before, and filled with joy, 6 months home. 

Nicki before, and Nicki 8 months home!

Ahnja just broken free from her orphanage, and again just 8 months later! 

The next 2 comparison photos are all of the same little boy. Precious Keith was 5 years old when he was adopted and was wearing 3-6 month size clothing. 

Here is Keith after just ONE month home. ONE month of proper nutrition and love. 

And above you will see how much he grew in just 6 1/2 months home. Incredible!

Go back and take a look at the other before and after photos in my last blog post and then look again at these. This is why adoption is so important. These kids need families. And I believe that families need these kids. Beautiful blessings they are.

And for an update on our Guardian Angel Wall look no further! Here is what we have so far! Cana has been working hard to keep up with donations. Cana asks me everyday if there were any donations for her to work on. You can also see one heart that Loyal colored. Bet you can guess which one. ;) It's looking great so far, but we have a long way to go! Help us fill our entire hallway! :) 

 God bless all of our boys Guardian Angles!

Please also take a look at the page at the top of my blog entitled "Current Fundraisers". We are doing a LOT of great fund raisers already to help bring our little boy home. If you are local (Oregon) and need a photography session, there are TWO great ways for you to help us out AND get high quality photos! We are also running a Thirty-One party, which is a great company that sells beautiful bags, purses, thermal picnic totes and organizing tools. Check it out! In addition we have a Scentsy party going as well. Make your home smell heavenly, and for a good cause! If you are on Facebook, please check out our online adoption auction! SO many wonderful items! You don't have to live near us to participate in the auction or the Scentsy or Thirty-One parties. All 3 of those fundraisers are online! Please consider shopping with us for any birthday you have coming up. Mother's Day is also coming up soon and both Scentsy and Thirty-One would be perfect for Mom! :)

Baby Shower! Anyone and Everyone can Participate! - Reece's Rainbow Cuties

This Sunday is Kaisa's baby shower. But it won't be your typical shower. I wanted to do something different, something special... and at the same time, I felt guilty about having a baby shower at all seeing as how this is my 4th child, and we really don't need anything for her! But my lovely friends Laura and Sara conspired to throw me a shower anyway. At first they suggested making it a Pamper Party for me since Kaisa didn't need anything. That was a very thoughtful suggestion, but I didn't really feel right about that either. Then I had a thought. What if we could celebrate Kaisa, AND do something good for someone in need? And I knew just the 2 little people I wanted to help out. You see, in September, Cana and I became prayer warriors through Reece's Rainbow for 2 orphans halfway across the world who have Down Syndrome. Caden and Ovalyn. We committed to pray for them every night, and every night we did pray. We put up a picture of their sweet faces on our wall map, and they would come up in conversation from time to time. Cana was particularly fond of little Ovalyn and asked more than once if we could bring her home. She's such a sweet girl.

So, my thought was that in lieu of gifts, a donation be made to Caden or Ovalyn's adoption grants on Reece's Rainbow. Yesterday however, I checked on both Caden and Ovalyn's links and neither were working. I didn't know what to think, so I hurriedly sent off a few messages to the wonderful folks at Reece's Rainbow and very quickly got a response that unfortunately the region that they are living in has recently closed to American adoptions, and therefore they no longer have open files, and there is no way to donate to their adoption grants. My heart sank. Not only because of my upcoming baby shower plans, but mostly because of those two sweet little faces that Cana and I have grown so attached to, and all of the other orphans living in their region. No longer accepting American adoption will drastically reduce the chance that they will be adopted. Which just makes my heart hurt for them. I can only console myself that our Father in Heaven knows them and loves them, much more than I do. I continue to pray that they find a forever family, even though, now I will likely never know their outcome. Here are their little faces. Please pray for them?





And so, even though I can obviously continue to pray for them, I was set up with new prayer warrior kids whose profiles are active and I can check in on them and donate to their adoption grants. Though I am sad that I cannot bless Caden and Ovalyn in a tangible way now, I am glad to be set up with two new precious little ones through the Prayer Warrior program on Reece's Rainbow, and I hope and pray that this baby shower can in some small way, bless them and spread awareness to the plight of the orphan. Now, I am happy to introduce you to Marnie, and Samuel!





Aren't they precious? Little Marnie was born the same month and year as Cana. Please visit their profiles here to learn more about them:

http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=Marnie

http://reecesrainbow.org/4586/samuel-3-2

These little children, who are so treasured in the eyes of God, are orphans because they were born with an extra chromosome. They deserve a loving family, just as much as my own children do, and it pains me to think of them spending most of their time in an orphanage crib, getting the bare minimum for survival, simply because they have a tiny extra chromosome. A little something special.

Friends and family, near and far, please consider these sweet faces. If you are so inclined, would you consider praying for them? Sending a tax deductible donation to their adoption grants on Reece's Rainbow? Spread the word about them, advocate for them? Know anyone interested in adoption? Perhaps you have a little extra room in your home and heart? Every prayer and penny counts. Anyone can easily participate in my baby shower by doing one of these things for little Marnie and Samuel. Donations can be made online, or sent in via check. Pray for them, or share their links on your Facebook or blog anytime! It would mean so much to me if my friends and family would take a moment and bless one or both of these little treasures. Kaisa and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts! :)

And just a last word on the baby shower. My local family and friends who were to be invited were supposed to be receiving invitations in the mail, but because of some planning mix-ups they were not sent. I am trying to fill in as many as possible through Facebook messages and texts. I fear very few will be able to attend the actual shower in person because of the short notice, but the great thing about this baby shower is that you can participate from near or far! :)





Edited to add:

Marnie also has an Angel Tree Warrior! That means if anyone wants to make a donation of $35 or more to Marnie, you can follow this link and get an Angel Tree ornament.
http://static.reecesrainbow.org/angeltree2012/

Just click the link and scroll down the the section that says "$100-$499 Raised" (so far her Angel Tree warrior has raised $306 for Marnie!), Find little Marnie's face and hover over the donate button just below her name. A box will pop up that says, "Buy Ornament $35" or "Just Donate".

Awareness

It's October! Where on Earth did September go?! Well, out with the old and in with the new. With October comes a need for awareness. October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month, and also Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. Whew! That's kind of a big deal! So over the course of the next month, I will be sharing information about both. I will still post family updates as well. So first off, a little information about how Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month was started. Here is a word from our former president Ronald Reagan:

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

Each year, approximately a million pregnancies in the U.S. end in miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of the newborn child. National observance of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month offers us the opportunity to increase our understanding of the great tragedy involved in the deaths of unborn and newborn babies. It also enables us to consider how, as individuals and communities, we can meet the needs of bereaved parents and family members on work to prevent causes of these problems.

Health care professionals recognize that trends of recent years, such as smaller family size and postponement of childbearing, adds another dimension of poignancy to the grief of parents who have lost infants. More than 700 local, national and international support groups are supplying programs and strategies designed to help parents cope with their loss. Parents who have suffered their own losses, health care professionals and specially trained hospital staff members are helping newly bereaved parents deal constructively with loss...

The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 314, has designated the month of October, as "Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month" and authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this month.

NOW, THEREFORE, I RONALD REAGAN, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of October in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty-eight and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirteenth.

Ronald Reagan
Former President
United States of America

(information found at http://www.pregnancylossribbons.com/informationsupport.htm)

Thank you Ronald Reagan for recognizing this need and helping to bring awareness to it. Our family has experienced the pain of miscarriage. Just before we conceived Judah we lost a baby, whom we named Emory. And again, just a couple months before conceiving Kaisa (whom I'm still pregnant with, she is due January 2nd), we had another loss. We named that baby Shiloh because it means "peace". Ironically, Shiloh's due date would have been this October 25th. So Pregnancy and Infant Awareness Month this year is timely for us. We have grieved for the loss of our children that we never got to meet, but rejoice in the comforting knowledge that they are awaiting us in Heaven, enjoying the love of our Savior, who we know cares deeply for the little children.

Matthew 19:14 (ESV)

¹⁴ but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

So the tears we have wept were not for Emory or Shiloh. They were for ourselves, for having missed out on the opportunity to know them in this life. But there will come a time for embracing them.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

A time for peace...

And since it is also the beginning of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, I leave you with this:









(image credit to Google)