Leaving on a jet plane...

It is so surreal. We have finally reached the point of travel! It has been a long time coming. In just 5 days, my dad and I will be jumping on a plane and flying to Eastern Europe to meet my boy! FIVE DAYS! What?! We've waited so long for this point that it almost felt like we were chasing the proverbial carrot, always just shy of getting a nibble. But alas, God was merciful and this first leg of the race is coming to a close. March 21st, we fly out, we spend nearly a full day in flight (or several flights, rather) and land in Levi's Eastern European countries capital on the 22nd. We stay the night in the capital and then the next morning we get a ride from our translator/guide to Levi's city. Our first visit with him is on the 24th. We spend 5 days in his city, visiting the orphanage twice a day. This has not been confirmed yet, but I think we may only get one visit on the 5th day, to allow enough time to travel back to the capital that night.
Just imagining that first visit and that last visit... sends me in a tail spin. I cannot wait to meet my son! So many questions and unknowns. So much joy and excitement! Love is practically bursting out of me! And then on the flip side, there will inevitably be a last visit. And my heart hurts just typing that out. It will be oh so hard to leave him. But, the phrase "last visit" also holds hope. Because the next time I see him, it will not be a visit. It will be forever. And forever suits my heart just fine.
So much has lead up to this point. And I have not done a good job of blogging along the way. I have used Facebook as a platform for sharing most often, but I'm trying to get better at tending to this little blog of mine. So bare with me. I've got 4 kids at home needing me all day long, and another child across the ocean who needs me just as much and I cannot be there for him yet, which is crazy making for a mama's heart.
We do a lot of praying for Levi throughout the day, because aside from adoption requirements and fundraising, prayer is the only thing we can offer Levi right now while he waits. I pray for him with Judah when I lay him down for nap. We pray for him at the dinner table each night. We pray for him with the kids before they go to bed. Cana especially likes praying for her brother. I pray for him before I fall asleep at night. And we pray for him at church or in our churches community group whenever we get a chance. Today I asked my 3 year old what we should tell Levi when I see him. In his sweet, impish way, he said, "tell him 'bout Nayna, Wowo, Judah, Yisha, mama, dada. Ok?" For those who don't speak Judah, he just listed his siblings and parents. :) I thought that was so sweet and simple and exactly the right answer.
5 days. There is a lot I need to accomplish in these last moments. It's a hectic time. My mind is constantly on overdrive, mentally going over to do lists for myself. Pray for me as I prepare to leave behind my family in search of another precious family member. Pray for my family as they live their day to day lives without me for a little over a week. Pray for safe travels for both my dad and I. Please pray for good visits with Levi.
I'm so thankful that my Dad is able to go with me on this trip. For a moment there I was afraid that I was going to have to travel alone. But Dad was able to make it work. He wants to meet his grandson after all! This will be an adventure of a lifetime for him and me. Some may wonder why my husband is not going with me, but for our family it just worked out better this way. My husband can only take off so much time from work, so he is saving his days so that we can go together on Gotcha trip. (Gotcha, or pick-up trip, is generally 4-6 months after first trip.) Josh will stay home and man the fort, with the help of his Mom and my Mom. And our church has been so wonderful in coming alongside us, and they will be bringing Josh and the kids a few meals while I'm away.
I leave the kids in good hands, but that doesn't make it easy. I know they will be fine though, and we have Skype to communicate with each other. It will be hardest for me to leave my baby, Kaisa. She is only 14 months old and has only recently stayed one night at a time away from me. We originally planned on taking her with us on the first trip, we got her a passport and everything, but then we found out that children are not allowed inside the orphanage. Which meant I was going to have to leave her behind and wean her earlier than planned. Which has been sad for me, and frustrating for her.
It's very late, and this blog is getting to be kind of jumbled. So I will leave you with a little fundraiser info. Currently we have a $500 matching grant from a beautiful group of people who are passionate about seeing orphans be placed in families. What a blessing! We are so close to matching it too. When our FSP reaches $8040, our match has been met and an additional $500 will be added!
Family Support Page

Also, a generous friend of mine has put together a HUGE scrap book fundraiser! There are dozens of scrap booking material lots (all new!) for a fair price, with FREE shipping, and all money spent on fabulous scrap treasures go toward our adoption, and another sweet families adoption. See more details here:
Scrap Book Treasures

PLEASE, please browse the scrap booking sale and share it with friends. My dear friend Rachel put an awful lot of work into getting everything organized, photographed and set up online for sale. Let's try to make all her hard work worth the effort!

Just a sample of the many items available! Please Shop!

Piece of the Puzzle-Kindle Fire giveaway {Ended!}

ALL referral photos of Levi have been unlocked! ALL puzzle pieces have been sponsored! We have winners! Scroll down to see who won! 
Thank you ALL!

It has been a long time since I have blogged. Life has been crazy, busy and blessed! A lot has happened in past months, but basically we are still plugging away with our adoption process, doing all we can to bring our boy home, and trusting in God's perfect timing and provision. He is SO good to us, and has proven time and time again, that we surely can trust Him, and that He does give good gifts to His children. And today, on this Thanksgiving morning (I began writing this on Thanksgiving, but my computer gave me lots of trouble with posting it until now), I am overjoyed and thankful to announce that we have a $1000 dollar matching grant! Happy Thanksgiving to us! :)


We are also doing a piece of the puzzle fundraiser. (And we are discontinuing our Guardian Angel Wall because it wasn't motivating donations anymore, it was discouraging to Cana when I didn't have more angels for her to color for the wall, and the angels keep falling down. lol) The puzzle is a beautiful "Events of the Bible" puzzle, and even though Levi's story isn't in the Bible, we believe his story is definitely a part of God's plan! He is not done redeeming His children!

How it works, is we have a 1000 piece puzzle, and each puzzle piece can be sponsored for $5. Your $5 donation gets you one piece of the puzzle with your name written on it. That piece will be put in a glass bowl, and when we have all 1000 pieces sponsored, I will draw several pieces from the bowl and those will be the winners of a few fun prizes. When the fundraiser is over we will have a huge beautiful puzzle with the names of many who care for Levi, and wanted to help get him home. We will frame it for him and show him all the people who loved him before he was even here!

You can see our Reece's Rainbow FSP (Family Support Page) here: Claus Family Support Page 
Donations to our FSP are tax deductible. You can donate online, or send in a check to Reece's Rainbow as long as you remember to specify that your donation goes to the Claus family.
Now, when people donate toward our FSP, we do not get notification of who the donation came from. So in order to fill our bowl with puzzle pieces I need everyone to email a copy of your donation receipt to joshandchelsea@gmail.com so I can write your name on the puzzle piece and add you to our giveaway! (or send me a private message on Facebook if we are Facebook friends!)

*Get one free entry per person by sharing this blog post on your Facebook timeline or blog. (make sure you let me know you shared!)
*Once you have sponsored a puzzle piece you can get an extra entry by sharing on Facebook or your blog, just make sure to let me know you have shared!(make sure you tell me that you shared)

So here are our prizes. I may add a few more as time goes on, but so far we have:

Set of 2 puzzles
Winner is Ashley Tucker!

Brand new Cranium game and brain shaped silicone mold!
Winner is Elaina Lawrence!

New Collectors Edition View Master set!
Winner is Rachel Davis!

$50 donation to a family in progress to adopt. Winners Choice. 
Winner is Tracy Hewitt!

16GB Kindle Fire 7" tablet!
Winner is Lonnie and Cindy Olson!

To make this even MORE fun, I have some pictures of Levi that I have not shared with anyone, and I will share a new picture of him for every 60 puzzle pieces sponsored (Which equals $300 donated) until this fundraiser is complete! You all really want to see these pictures, I promise!

Can you be a piece of Levi's puzzle and help bring him home? 
                                                  *

16 out of 16 photos unlocked! 

*These photos were staged in the "play" room while adoptive families were there picking up their children. Please pray for our little guy.*

  

 

This is the youngest photo I have of him. How I wish I had some baby photos of him.

Operation Orphan No More Giveaway!!! - Benefitting Reece's Rainbow families!

UPDATE! We have a $500 matching grant right now! So every donation to our giveaway will help us 2 fold as well as helping the other families in our giveaway! So please donate and then tell me which adopting family you are voting for so I can add your votes! 

We now have $500 of $500 met! Thank you! 

I am SO excited about this giveaway! If you have been following us at all, you have seen that we are adopting a precious little boy with special needs from Eastern Europe. And I just KNOW you want to see his sweet face again! :)

 We are doing everything we can to raise the funds necessary to bring our son home. That's where this giveaway comes in! But there are so many other awesome families in the Reece's Rainbow community who are also in the trenches of adoption fund raising, and we really wanted to come alongside some of them while also working to bring our son home. Being a part of the Reece's Rainbow family means we support each other! Fund raising is hard. But we wanted to put the fun back in FUNdraiser!!! So this is how this is going to work. We are going to be giving away three different cash prizes, to 3 lucky Reece's Rainbow families in process! We have 11 lovely families nominated to be a part of our giveaway, and it's going to be your job to help the family of your choice stay in the running for First, Second or Third prize. (there will also be a small consolation prize for each family who has been nominated but does not win one of our prizes.) Your votes will make ALL the difference to these families. But the other great thing is, we have a lot of wonderful prizes for you voters as well! And for every vote you cast for the family that tugs most at your heart, you will also be entered into the giveaway to win some amazing gifts for yourself!

So how do you vote?

Vote by sending a contribution to our Donate button on our right sidebar (You cannot see our donate button while on your cell phone and will have to hop onto a computer to see and donate) or by donating to our FSP (Family Support Page) on Reece's Rainbow. Donating through our FSP is tax deductible, but if you donate through our FSP you have to send me a Facebook private message or an email (onemamasjourney@gmail.com) with a copy of your receipt for your donation, as well as the name of the family you want your votes to go toward. If you donate through our Donate Button, we will get an email automatically, so you don't have to worry about letting me know, but you still have to make sure to add a note for who the votes should go toward. The other bonus to donating through our Donate Button here on our blog is that you will earn DOUBLE votes! So this is how the donation to vote ratio will go:

$5 to our FSP = 1 vote

$5 to Donate Button = 2 votes

$10 to our FSP = 3 votes

$10 to our Donate Button = 6 votes

$15 to our FSP = 5 votes

$15 to our Donate Button = 10 votes

$20 to our FSP = 7 votes

$20 to our Donate Button = 14 votes

$25 to our FSP = 9 votes

$25 to our Donate Button = 18 votes

$30 to our FSP = 11 votes

$30 to our Donate Button = 22 votes

$50 to our FSP = 20 votes

$50 to our Donate Button = 40 votes

$75 to our FSP = 30 votes

$75 to our Donate Button = 60 votes

$100 to our FSP = 50 votes

$100 to our Donate Button = 100 votes!

 You can earn ONE free vote per day by sharing THIS blog post on your Facebook page and then letting me know by tagging me in your status, or leaving a comment here, that you shared. I'm also giving 10 bonus votes to anyone who buys Scentsy through our Scentsy party HERE! Just let me know that you did and I will confirm with my consultant. :)

Remember to let me know who your votes should go toward! This giveaway will go for 4 weeks, and I will stop accepting votes at 11:59pm (PST) on Monday June 3rd.

Now for the PRIZES!!!

$10 Bath and Body Works Gift Card! 

(Generously donated by Lauren DeStefano!)
Winner is Theresa Revilak! 

$50 Lane Bryant Gift Card

(This gift card can also be used at Catherine's and Fashion Bug)
Winner is Becki Little!

$50 Ulta Gift Card

Winner is Kelly Lee! 
 

$50 Home Depot Card

(Generously donated by Melissa Breen!)
Winner is Rachel Davis!

$50 Gift Card to Coco Rose Couture Etsy Shop

(Coco Rose Couture was featured in Parenting Magazine, The Knot, and Toddlers and Tiaras!)

Winner is Cindy Olson!

The Movie "October Baby" Brand New!

(Generously donated by Christy Ferguson!)

Winner is Christina Wolf!

A gorgeous Rainbow Rose Necklace

(Generously donated by Under Cover of Lightness Etsy Shop)

Winner is Katy Colbry!

A Custom Birds Nest Pendant- You choose the color and number of Eggs in your nest!

(Generously donated by Tammy McAninch!)

Winner is Angela (Our Lively Crew)!

Beautiful set of rainbow bracelets in cat's eye (left) and glass beads (right), a $30 value! On memory wire, one size fits all!

(Generously donated bu Christy Scott Ashby!)

Winner is Jessica Cooper!

Lovely set of bracelets, a $30 value, howlite and jade (left), and sodalite (right). On memory wire, one size fits all!

(Generously donated by Christy Scott Ashby!)

Winner is Katy Colbry!

Created canvas set can be made in any color scheme and with a different scripture verse or quote of winner's choice. More than one picture can be used for the two accompanying canvases they would just be done collage style. Includes stands or attached hardware for hanging. Alternately these can be done as 8X10 prints for framing (frames not included).

(Generously donated by Brooke Adkins-Kirk at Caps For Causes!)

Winner is Katie Evans!

 Flower bow set in winner's choice of color (red, pink, purple, teal, black and white and green available) and images. Choose from hundreds of images. Can be attached to partially lined alligator clips or barrette (Also can include a matching detachable headband).

(Generously donated by Brooke Adkins-Kirk at Caps For Causes!)

Winner is Rachel Davis!

Custom made cupcake picks in winner's choice of theme, includes 24 picks with or without embellishments depending on availability.

(Generously donated by Brooke Adkins-Kirk at Caps For Causes!)
Winner is Crystal Pettit!

 *****

1st place prize is $300 to the Reece's Rainbow Family with the most votes!

Winner is Jaclyn Mitchell!

2nd place family gets $150 to their FSP!

Winner is Angela (Our Lively Crew)!

3rd place family gets $50 to their FSP!

Winner is Grace Knuth!

Please go HERE to meet the families that you get to vote for and check in on their status! Don't let "your" family fall behind! And don't forget about all these amazing prizes! Have fun!

Giveaway has ended. 1st place prize money went to Jaclyn Mitchell, 2nd place went to Jon and Angela, and 3rd place went to the Knuth family. 

Operation Orphan No More Giveaway - Meet the Reece's Rainbow Families!

Giveaway has ended. 1st place prize money went to Jaclyn Mitchell, 2nd place went to Jon and Angela, and 3rd place went to the Knuth family. 
I will draw for all other prizes tomorrow! Stay tuned! 


Here are our Nominees for this huge giveaway! Meet the families! 

(Remember, voting through our Donate Button DOUBLES your voting power! See THIS POST for all the rules and prizes! I will update the votes as often as I can, but will make sure to update again each evening for sure!)

Jaclyn and Kevin Mitchell, adopting Adam and Matthias! To see their family profile please go here.

To VOTE for them please Donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Mitchell family!

209 votes
prize awarded!

*

The Unroe family, adopting Thad, Carson and Presley! To see their family profile look here.

To VOTE for the Unroe  family please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Unroe Family! 

50 votes
consolation prize awarded! 

*

The Horton family, adopting Gary! To see their family profile look here.

To VOTE for the Horton family please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Hortons!

54 votes
 consolation prize awarded! 

*

Melissa and Bill Breen, adopting Kamdyn! To see their family profile go here.

To VOTE for the Breen family please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Breens!

29 votes
consolation prize awarded!

*

Lorraine and Zach Colwell, adopting Sarai! To see their family profile look here.

To VOTE for the Colwells, please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Colwell Family! 

25 votes
consolation prize awarded! 

*

The Johnsons, adopting Bria and Safiya! To see their family profile, look here.

To VOTE for the Johnson Family please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Johnsons!

21 votes
 consolation prize awarded!

*

The Hemmes family, adopting John! To see their family profile go here. 

To VOTE for the Hemmes family please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Hemmes! 

9 votes
 consolation prize awarded!

*

The Wojcik family, adopting Danny and Riley! To see their family profile go here.

To VOTE for the Wojciks please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Wojciks Family! 

18 votes
 consolation prize awarded!

* 

The Knuth family, adopting Tommy! To see their family profile, look here.

To VOTE for the Knuth Family please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Knuth family! 

60 votes
Prize awarded!

*

Jon and Angela adopting Jack and Jensen! To see their family profile look here.

To VOTE for Jon and Angela please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for them!

187 votes
prize awarded! 

*

The Brown family, adopting Gemma! To see their family profile go here. 

To VOTE for the Browns please donate to OUR Donate Button (on the right) or our FSP and let me know you are voting for the Brown Family

11 votes
consolation prize awarded!

*

Make sure to check back everyday to see how "your" family is doing! Don't let them slip in the ranks! And remember to get  your free vote every day by sharing on Facebook and letting me know you did! Let's help some families get their little ones home!!! 

Why International Adoption? Why Special Needs? - Reece's Rainbow Adoption

So a few have asked us why we would want to adopt internationally. There are children right here in the United States who need families after all! And also, why special needs adoption? What makes you feel qualified to parent a child with special needs? These are my thoughts...

The first and most important answer to both questions is; God has set us on this path. Josh and I both feel confident that we have heard God's calling here, and after much prayer, discussion, research and more prayer, we decided to answer that call. It may sound trite, but that's honestly how we feel. Where God is leading, we want to follow!

The second most important answer to both questions is this; He is our son. And our son wasn't born in the United States, and our son just happened to be born with special needs. Period. If he was in the foster care system, we would pursue him there. If he was born in Asia, we would pursue him there. But he currently lives in Eastern Europe and therefor that is where we are going. And as far as his special needs are concerned we feel comfortable with them, and will work hard to help him in any way we can, just as we would with our biological kids. If someone gives birth to a child with special needs, do we take them aside and say, "Now wait a minute, what makes you feel qualified to care for that child? Do you have any experience?" No. Instead we pray for them, offer support, and just be a friend to them!

But here is another reason. First, my disclaimer. Foster care and domestic adoption is super important and is definitely needed. I respect anyone who is a foster parent or who has adopted domestically. EVERY child deserves a family. And every adoptive family is called differently. Some feel pulled to Haiti, some to China, some to Latvia, and some to the good old US of A. If God called us all in the same way, not only would this world be a really boring and uninteresting place, but there would also be a lot of unmet needs out there. All that being said, I have no problem with people wanting to adopt locally or become foster parents, and I hope more do so! It's definitely needed. But God has opened our eyes to the plight of the orphan internationally. Our eyes cannot be shut. Orphaned children in Easter Europe (EE for short) and other countries face a very different reality than those in the United States do.

In the US, children who are given up for adoption, or whose parents are unable to successfully parent them, are placed with foster parents who are trained how to care for them, they receive medical care, counseling and have social workers checking up on them. They have food, clothes, a home and they get to participate in a family unit.

Orphaned children with special needs in EE and many other countries are taken first to what is called a baby house. When I hear the term baby house, I imagine a home filled with loving nannies, rocking babies and shaking rattles. But that image would be false. A baby house is an orphanage for children age 0-5 with rows and rows of cribs where the kids spend the majority (if not ALL) of their time. The room with the smallest babies are often termed the crying rooms. The babies cry and cry and cry until, they learn that their needs are not going to be met, they are not going to get another bottle, they are not going to be rocked or held and they give up. They do not get adequate amounts of food and it is not uncommon to hear of toddlers and even much older children being bottle fed only. Less mess and fuss for the orphanage workers who are unable (or unwilling) to take the time to teach children how to feed themselves. Very often these kids will get only ONE diaper change a day. Many orphans in EE and elsewhere do not have language. This is not usually because of their special needs, but is because they are simply not spoken to. Many orphanages do not have any toys. Others have lots of toys, but do not allow the children to play with them unless an adoptive family is coming for a visit. Mostly these babies and young children spend their days laying or pacing in their cribs.

And what happens after the baby house? Transfer. Transfer is an ugly word in the adoption community. Little ones with special needs who are not adopted by age 5 (usually age 5, sometimes as early as age 4, sometimes a little later) are sent to an ADULT mental institution. The baby houses are Disneyland compared to these dark, despair filled institutions. Here, they get even less attention, less food, are often drugged constantly to keep them quiet and docile, their heads are shaved (both boys and girls), and they are often beaten and abused. A very sad yet real statistic is that about 85% of children transferred out of the baby house will die within the first year. In the baby house there is at least a glimmer of hope that they might be chosen, a family might come for them. In the adult mental institutions, all hope is lost. Take a look at these faces. The before pictures are when they still resided in the baby houses. After photos are after transfer.

 Sweet little Sonny lost his beautiful hair and the twinkle in his eye.

Kolya breaks my heart. Look how his charming smile has become a hardened frown.

 

Poor little Donovan is wasting away...

 

Darling Holden has clearly been mistreated...

 

And precious Ksenia...there are no words. 

And here is the memorial page on Reece's Rainbow. Many of these children had families coming for them. 

These are real children. And their reality is unfathomable. We cannot stomach the thought of our boy ever having to set foot in an institution. So we are working hard to raise the ransom needed. This is why we are going. For God. For our son. And for love. Please consider helping us bring our little one home...

Next post I will show a very different kind of before and after photo. Stay Tuned. And just a reminder that all contributions will added to our Guardian Angel wall. I will soon be posting a picture of what we have so far.