Anastasia New Info

I don't have any new pictures, but I do have some good news and some sad news about Anastasia.  First the sad news.  I have heard she is a little peanut and she does spend all of her time in a crib.  She does not get to come out and play or get held.  I know it is not the caregivers fault as they have a room full of children and limited resources.  It just makes me sad to think of this beautiful little girl laying in her crib day in and day out.  If she was in a family she would be playing with her brothers or sisters having a good time.  I am sad for her and hope her family comes soon, so that she can finally learn what life outside a crib is like.

Please read what was posted on another blog from a girl who also has the same condition that Anastasia has.  She knows what Anastasia is capable of, because she lives independently and leads a normal life like you and me.  She is an inspiration to all the children and adults with AMC.

The following paragraph was copied and pasted from Anastasia's RR page.

From one of our adoptive families who met her in September 2011: "The great news is that she does have rotation in her shoulders and some in her hips and also they say she does NOT have hydrocephalus! Her heart condition is basically that she's not active enough – her heart-rate isn't stimulated often. She had a brain scan that showed she is normal except for enlarged ventricles in the brain, which they did not feel should affect the function of her brain. She is very weak, though. She cannot sit on her own and they said she could hold her head up but when I held her her poor little neck could hardly stay up (I'm sure that would change with some p/t). They handed her right to my husband – a big guy – which frightened her, poor little Anastasia! They told us she liked music so I took her and sang to her and she calmed a bit but then still wanted her nanny. I can't tell you how much we truly WANTED so badly to take her home with us! She is just precious! But she has never been out of that room and will really need a family who is experienced with institutionalization challenges, and to help Anastasia LIKE the world around her!"

The great news you can take away from this report is that her brain is so much better off than her scary and vague diagnosis of "Other Specified Disorder of the Brain" would lead you to believe! No hydrocephalus, no permanent brain damage and no signs of FAS! This little one's biggest issue is being in an institution! Being in a loving family would eliminate many of her current challenges! What excellent news!

The hard part will be initial bonding and bringing her home. She'll need at least one parent who can be with her constantly at first while she learns to trust her new situation and slowly explore her world. Most Home Studies (the first step in adoption) will offer or require classes on helping children from institutionalized settings. There is much hope for Anastasia!

As far as her arthrogryposis, the weakness sounds like par for the course, as most kids with AMC have muscle weakness. Anastasia has never had any intervention that we know of so she'll be starting from the beginning. Of course she's only a little over two years old and there is still time for intervention to have a huge impact. Her muscles can be strengthened, and often naturally are throughout a normal day once she's removed from a crib in an institution setting. Remember kids in institutions do not have toys to play with or everyday stimulus that other children receive. I'd love to see this girl with a ball! A little time in a loving home with one ball will be what her core muscles need to hold that head up high!

Based on this new information there is no reason to believe that Anastasia would not one day be independent in her daily activities with good physical therapy and a loving home. If her shoulders are not externally rotated (if I'm reading that right) then physical and occupational therapy on her upper body will also be easier, and her range of motion may be greater. I hope a family finds her soon!


Please share this beauty and her story.  You never know who will see this and just maybe her family will find her.  

Beautiful and Smiley

Remember this little girl.  I have been trying to find her a family for what seems like forever.  I wanted to remind everyone about her.  Please share her with everyone you know.  You never know who will fall in love with her like I have.  Please scroll down the page and read more about her.  Please someone go rescue her, love her, and watch her sparkle and be all she can be.  She only has a year and a half before she could be transferred to the institution where she may not survive the first year.  I know that a year and half might seem like a long time, but it is not.  It will take at least 6 months to get everything ready to travel to her country and then there is waiting for the travel day.  Please help me help her find a family.  You can also find more information on her here as well.  If you can't adopt her you can donate to her grant fund for the family that can.  Trust me every little bit will help.   

Ransom

When I mention adoption I get lots of looks.  Some people hide away from it like it is a dirty word.  Others make polite conversation and say it is a great thing and then go about their day.  Some use the excuse that they could not do it.  Others hide their eyes so that they don't have to see what is going on or being talked about. 
I don't think everyone should adopt, but I think that everyone should do something about it.  It should not be a dirty word or a taboo topic.  Some want to know why I can't just give up this adoption thing.  This little girl is why I will never be able to give up this adoption thing.

Look at this picture really close.  Did you notice she is in an infant bouncy seat?  Did you notice the lady's hand that is touching her elbow?  Did you notice the size difference?  She is a cute little baby.  No she is NOT.  Well yes she is precious, but she is not a baby.  She is 11 years old.  Let me say that again, 11 years old.  She weights 10 pounds.  How is that possible?  How can an 11 year old weight 10 pounds?  How can an 11 year old have a three inch wrist?  Well that is because she is in a country that does not care about her and others like her.  It is also because she is a fighter. She has to be.  How many of us could imagine ourselves or our children having to endure what this little girl has been through?  Nobody I mean nobody should have to go through this.  Well are you shocked, are you mad, do you want to do something about it.  Well you can and you just might get something in return.  Many people have stepped up to the plate and donated a ton of great gifts for this treasure.  You can have a chance to win these gifts by donating to this little girls grant fund.  I am talking big gifts like Ipad 2, Kindles, loads of gift cards, and many more things.  For any amount you donate you will receive a chance to win.  Please go to this link and donate to the chip in.  These donations are tax deductible.  Even if you don't win you will get something in return.  You will get the joy of knowing you have helped rescue this precious gem. 

Not Forgotten

Please read about this little boy's story a friend wrote.  This story makes me want to cry.  This little boy deserves a mother.  Please pass his story on.  It also has a story of a family at the end. 

I have two focuses for this Friday.  Both are heartwrenching and hard. 

Yesterday I received an e-mail that open the floodgates that hold back my tears.  I haven't recovered.  I am still leaking tears as I write this post.  This story pierced my heart, and I don't know when I'll get over it.

Six years ago,  a Mama across the ocean gave birth to a little boy. His little body was twisted and contorted, and the doctors and nurses whispered in her ears, urging her to give him up: "He will never walk."  "He will be a burden."  "You cannot afford to keep him."  "He will be better off hidden away." "He should not have been born."    She was in an unforgiving world where broken children are tossed aside on a regular basis.

Despite all of this, her mother's heart would not allow her to let him go. Against the advice of all of those worldly-wise whisperers, she decided to keep him.  She carried her beloved little boy with the contorted body home, where she cared for him and loved on him.  She tenderly worked his arms and his legs.  She nursed him and washed him. It was hard. We don't know if she had support.  We know that finding work while maintaining a disabled child at home in that world is next to impossible. Somehow, though, mother and son survived together in this way for six years.

Back in January 2011, financial strain and her own health problems forced this Mama to take her son to live in a baby house orphanage. She chose the best one she could find, one where the staff was willing to work with special needs kids like her son.  She wanted to find a job and a home nearby so that she could visit her precious treasure. Evey time she walked through the door, his face lit up: his Mama was back.  Her love carried him through the loneliness of the baby house and kept him going.  He loved his Mama and she loved him. 

A few months later, though, Mama suddenly stopped coming. Her little boy longed for her and waited for her; but no matter how hard he wished for her, she no longer appeared. 

Her absence wasn't by choice. Unknown to the little boy, his Mama had died of cancer in March.

Now he is all alone in the orphanage, with no one to visit him, for the first time in his six years of life. He refuses to believe the caretakers who tell him that she is never coming back. Each day, he continues to look for her.  He scans the face of everyone who walks into the building, looking for a Mama who can never return to him.

A little boy who was tenderly loved for 6 years, suddenly orphaned.

He needs a Mama. 

He desperately needs a  Mama.

He will not be allowed to stay at his good baby house orphanage.  Because he is wheelchair bound, he will be transferred to an institution for older children with special needs, just as Aaron was transferred. 

I can't bear the thought.

His Reece's Rainbow name is Patrick and he needs a Mama.

He needs to grieve in the arms of a Mama who will help him overcome his great loss.  He needs a family who can restore for him the joy of being loved and held and cherished. 

I would get him if I could.  I would cross that ocean and bring him home if the road was clear for us.  But it is not.  And so I am crying out for someone else to go get him.  He needs a family.

My heart grieves deep within me for this one little boy.

Please please please post on your blogs about this little guy.  Please, someone go get him. 

Little boys are not supposed to have to say goodbye to their Mamas when they are only six years old.

*****

Just like Mamas are not supposed to have to say goodbye to their sons when they are only five years old.

But that is what is happening in my other story.

A Reece's Rainbow family is getting ready to say goodbye to their son, Joshua. 

We met this family last year across the ocean. While we were bringing home Aaron, they were bringing home  two little girls with Down Syndrome. 

Hannah and Bethany.

Hannah came home and began to thrive immediately.  Bethany's story was different: her health was fragile. Over the last nine months, she has been hospitalized multiple times, for a long list of reasons.

While the Parkers were dealing with Bethany's litany of issues, their youngest son, Joshua, also became gravely ill.  He, too, had a  long list of health problems, but his health was fairly stable until they brought the girls home. Then Joshua took a turn for the worse, and the family has been forced to watch their little boy go downhill fast.  

Sadly, the doctors have no more help to offer.  Joshua is approaching the end.  His little body is wearing out, and his doctors now speak of pain management instead of cure. Joshua will be going into hospice care very soon.

I'm writing this because the Parker family just plain needs help. 

Fathers shouldn't have to say goodbye to their five year olds.

But that is what is happening. 

In a short time they are going to have to say goodbye to their precious little guy.

The family needs help right now, and I am asking you to dig deep for them.  By praying, encouraging and giving.

Some friends and I have created a blog for the Parker family to make it easy to GIVE and to SHARE their story.

Please donate, and please pass their blog around on your blogs and FB.

You can access their blog HERE.  Please lift this family up in your prayers.

They are going through a dark valley and desperately need to know we are there for them.

Teri Lynn

Please read a post copied from a blog that I read.  I don't think I could say this any better, so I will just repost what she had to say about this sweet little girl. 

Every now and then I see something that literally makes me feel sick in my stomach.  They're the pictures and the stories which bring me to my knees--begging God to intervene.

There are many things in this life which break my heart.  Poverty, hurt, broken marriages, wayward children, neglected and abused animals, struggling families, illness...I could go on and on.  I ache every time I see any of those things.

But something happens deep within me each and every time I see a picture of  sheer injustice--an orphan without hope!  A situation so desperate and so very heartbreaking.

I know that many of you have been reading my blog for a long time, and for that I am so thankful.  Some of you have even followed along from the time I was in Ukraine last year adopting Hailee and Harper.  You held up my arms in those weeks which were terribly lonely and difficult--especially when there was a chance that the judge would not allow me to adopt the girls.

While in that country and since coming home, I have tried as best I could to put into words the conditions that children live in there.  I shared my heart here and here.  It's a fine balance, really.  I want to spell it out and tell the world all about the reality of the conditions that millions of children live in.  But at the same time there's a very fine line in being cautious not to ruffle any feathers that could possibly cause problems for future families adopting from those nations. 

Last week I saw a picture that just about ripped my heart out.  Staring back at me was a little treasure.  An angel, really. 

Allow me to introduce you to Teri Lynn.

Isn't she just a little doll?

Teri Lynn has Down syndrome and lives in a country in Eastern Europe.  She has waited for years and years for someone to choose her.  Unfortunately for Teri Lynn, she turned five last December.  A death sentence!  Literally.  Do you know why?  In these countries young children are kept in a baby house for the first five years of their lives.  These are places filled to be brim with little ones.  And while conditions are positively awful in many of them, they really are paradise compared to what comes next.

Soon after these sweet children with special needs turn five, they become eligible to be transferred.  To a mental asylum!  An institution.  A place where 95% of children with Down syndrome DIE!  They cannot survive the heinous conditions.  They lie in cribs day in and day out.  They are starved of human contact and adequate food.  All dignity is stripped away as they lie in their own urine and feces until someone eventually finds enough time to come and change them.  These children have no worth and no value whatsoever!  To those who "care" for them, they are merely objects--not worthy of human love and care.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.  I really could go on and on telling you story after story.  I could use every word in the book to try and tell the world about the reality of life for these sweet, beautiful, and amazing children who get transferred to mental institutions.

But this time, no words are necessary.

This, friends, is Teri Lynn.  Just a few weeks after being transferred!  This is an updated picture of the same little girl above living in a mental asylum.

Can you even imagine?  I weep for her!  How is this even possible?

How can a beautiful little girl deteriorate so quickly, in just a few weeks?  How can her head be shaved and her face look like she is the victim of some kind of abuse?  How?  It looks like she is definitely being drugged with something too.  Oh, God in heaven!

It's the reality of institutionalism.  A place where only the fittest and strongest can survive.

Dear blog friends, today I come to you begging for your help. Yes, I'm begging! Like every other orphan on the planet, Teri Lynn deserves to be chosen!  She deserves a chance at life. She deserves to blossom and grow and become all who God has created her to be.  But I'm afraid that time is running out.  She is deteriorating fast, and I have no idea how long she can hold on. She's holding on by a thread.

My heart aches for her.

PLEASE, will you help me spread the word?  Would you mind spreading Teri Lynn's story all over the place in the hope that someone will look at her sweet little face and know that she is their daughter?  We need to find a family for her, like, yesterday.  A family who will step forward in faith and head into the unknown.  Will it be easy?  Perhaps not.  Is God able?  Yes!  Able to do exceedingly, abundantly MORE than we could ever ask or imagine.



Teri Lynn has a grant fund which has been set up for her through Reece's Rainbow.  A large grant would make her adoption so much easier.  If you feel led by the Lord, would you consider making a contribution to her fund?  You can go right here to sow seed which God will multiply.  All donations are tax deductible.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.  Thank you for standing with me and trusting that this little life WILL be saved.  Thank you for praying that the right family will step forward very soon--and that they will get to her before it is too late. 

Who will rescue this treasure of darkness? 

Anastasia

This is Anastasia. Isn't she a cutie. She is not even two yet. She has Arthrogryposis that effect most of her joints. Don't worry it won't get worse. It is not a progress condition. She will require physical therapy and maybe serial casting, but in America she could get out of her crib and may even walk around. We have some of the best doctors for her condition are right her on the East Coast. Even better they are at the Shriners hospitals, so you don't have to pay anything. I was told today, but a girl that has it that when joints are stuck straight like Anastasia's they are easier to fix and get moving than if they are stuck bent. None of this will be possible where she is now. In her country she is deemed an invalid. She is believed to have a mental condition just because she has a physical one. In her country there is no difference. Anastasia does not have mental disorder. Actually kids with AMC are usually very intelligent. Anastasia just gets to lay in her crib all day long because her country thinks she can't. Well she hasn't ever been given a chance to prove she can. Will you be her chance? Will you come save her from a life laying in a crib? Will you save her from the institution that she will have to go to? The one that will give her less attention than she gets now. The one that will leave her tied to a crib and possibly sedated. The one that will only be able to provide one maybe two meals at most to her. Will you rescue this 1 year old and tell her she can? I promise that she wants to try. Give her that chance. If you can't go get her maybe you can help the family that can. She is listed on Reece's Rainbow a nonprofit charity trying to raise hope, awareness, and money for these little ones. Adoption is expensive and every penny helps. If you would like to donate click here If you have any questions about her, her condition, or would like to see more photos please let me know. I would be happy to answer any questions and put you in touch with the right people.

MEET MASHA

No this is not Victoria, but this little girl needs a family too.  This little girl is going to be transferred to a very poor mental institute for adults.  Yes I said adults and yes she is only 4.  Four year olds don't belong with adults.  Please read this post that I copied from a family that is there with her right now.  They have seen, played, loved on her. 

Look for me on www.reecesrainbow.org under Other Angels 0-5years old

Do you see this precious angel? This is Masha and she is a girl who is in dire need of your help!! When I say dire I have never meant it more than I have today. Masha is in the same groupa as Carrington and just turned 4 years old. She has FAS (fetal alcohol syndrome) and is the sweetest little muffin. Do not by any means let the diagnosis of FAS scare you off as Brian and I were blessed yesterday to be able to interact with her for close to 15 minutes and in that time she dispalyed more skills and cognitive abilities than most children we have encountered. Oh my is she a complete doll with a great sense of humor and a smile that lit up the room. We started playing peek-a-boo and immediately she copied us and just giggled up a storm! She also was talking to us, in Russian, but nevertheless she was talking. Then I started blowing her kisses and she acted as if she was catching them then laughed out loud. The reason the picture is not all that great is because we are not allowed to take pictures so I was distracting the workers while Brian took the picture.

Ok, so this is where I need you and please just take 2 minutes to help. You see we just found out yesterday that Masha was getting her physical, not to give her general medical care, but to prepare her for transfer to the adult mental institution. The very same place that Reagan is in now. The very director who has never allowed one single adoption. The place where a small child will be left to lay around with no interaction or love. The place these children are sent to die. Masha is 4 years old yet she weighs about 13 pounds and is the same size as our little Carrington. Currently prayers are being sent up all over this world for our little Reagan as Monday will be the day we face the biggest mountain yet: the Director. This woman will determine whether or not Reagan will have the chance to know the love of a family and whether or not Reagan will even get to see her next birthday. We have every bit of faith God called us over here to bring Reagan home but our emotional distress is over Masha and her future. I am asking every one of you who reads our blog to please post this message and picture of Masha to find her family. She is to be transferred literally any day. This is not what God has in mind for these children so we are here to make sure it doesn't happen. Do not worry about the financial aspect; I am not asking for money right now. Please just find her a family and our family along with so so many others will find the finances. We are doing our very best to save every little penny from this adoption to send over to Masha's grant fund along with several other families who are also pledging support. All I am asking is to spread the word via email, Facebook, and that twitty bird thing. Listen, this year I will turn 40 and those of you who know me know just how much I LOVE birthdays but this year I don't want presents or a party, I just want you to please post this about Masha. If you would do this would you please leave a message in the comment box that simply says "Happy Birthday" and together we will make this a happy birthday for both Masha and I.

Please check out this other blog and what another adoptive mother had to say about sweet Masha.  She just wrote this in January.
http://luckytolovelyla.blogspot.com/2011/01/isabelle-masha.html


Please share with everyone in hopes that Masha can find a family fast.