HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

Yes, it is official. We are going back to get a little girl whose photo I fell in love with the minute I saw it on the RR site. Charity.

Some may think it's too soon, but we are just answering a call that is in our hearts. We are doing what Rob and I say a lot, "walking through the door". That's what we said when we committed to Lucy ("Melanie" on the RR site), we "walked through the door". My new motto lately has been, "Faith is not faith at all without action". Not everyone is called to adopt, but we are all called to support families, pray for them, and help in any way we can. I feel that being a mom to these precious children is my calling. That is the way that I can help the dire situation. I never wouldda thunk it in a million years only 5 years ago, and today, it's in my dreams. I have changed and so has my heart. Join us on our journey to bring Charity home. Please pray for us, donate if you can, and share our story.

Much love to all of you!

http://reecesrainbow.org/29900/sponsorsader-2

Much Needed Update!

LIFE.IS.GOOD.

Lucy is doing really really well, but even better than that, Ragen just LOVES her little sister! They are becoming great friends! They especially like to laugh at one another when one is doing something they KNOW they shouldn't, so mom is in trouble! When Lucy came home, July 23rd, she barely spoke, could not crawl and wanted NOTHING to do with Ragen. Now, she talks ALL THE TIME, crawls everywhere even up the stairs and down the stairs, walks with assistance with only one hand, and can't wait to see Ragen in the mornings and when one or the other comes home from school. Lucy is in school now and even takes the bus! She really seems to love it! She had her very first Christmas program at school last week...mom and dad were so proud. One day an orphan with no future, if she had a future, to being in school, learning with other children, a sister who loves her and loves to play with her, and a mom and dad who would die for her. It was a rough road at first, mainly because of Ragen's difficulty with adjusting...but now, I don't think any of us could imagine life before Lucy. She is a blessing to us and our little family. Rob and I are now considering and praying about beginning the process to bring another angel into our family. We have so much love to give, the tools and resources to raise another "special child". Our hearts and minds are open and ready. Who would have thought that the blessing of having Ragen would have brought so much to our lives...

I'm the Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

A GIFT AND A REVELATION

Things have been very trying, but I'm doing everything I can possibly do as a mother of 2 toddlers with special needs. I'm exhausted by 6 pm! I know it will pay off, it seems to be already, although very little right now, but I'll take it and I'm grateful for it. I am now believing that bringing Lucy home was a wake-up call. Not only did God want us to rescue this little girl, but He also used this little girl to rescue Ragen in a way. I always knew that Ragen had difficulties when it came to her Autism, but I know that I was is a bit in denial...almost like 'if I ignore it, it will go away on it's own', but unfortunately Autism doesn't work that way, it only gets worse if it's not addressed and I definitely wasn't addressing it in all the ways I could have and should have. I know I relied on the school too much to 'turn her around' and if they didn't step up in the ways I wanted them to, I would have someone else to blame if 'I lost her'. I was doing some things, but not everything that I could be doing prior to Lucy coming home. The closer the time came for us to be ending our adoption journey, the more inadequate I was feeling about being a mother as I watched Ragen seeming to be slipping away. The adoption was going to happen regardless of my insecurities...I gave them to God every day, praying He would take care of my 'stinkin thinkin' somehow someway. The time approaches for us to travel to a far away place to bring our daughter home...a girl we had been dreaming of for a couple years now, well, at least I had been dreaming of her for that long. Little did I realize that once again God was sending me another angel from half way across the world to save me, just has He had sent her older sister almost 5 years ago to change me in ways I had never dreamt of. I began to see that I was not saving her, but she was saving me...this new little one showed me that Ragen needed me in big ways, ways that I hadn't been there before. I had always knew that there were differences between Ragen and other children with just Down syndrome, but I don't think I really SAW it. We'd have playdates, I'd see her at school every now and then for brief periods, at church, but then we would go home, shut the door from the world outside and forget what we witnessed or didn't witness. Now along comes Lucy and I can no longer 'shut the door'. Lucy is here to stay and with her here, she has really helped me to 'SEE' Ragen and 'SEE' the differences, and 'SEE' that she needs the extra help from ME, not anyone else, but ME, her momma. The first couple of weeks that Lucy was home was very hard. I kept saying that Ragen was being so difficult and she was having such a hard time adjusting, but if I were to be honest, it was me that was having the hard time really 'SEEING' my daughter for the first time and knowing that I could not run anymore, nor could I give her to someone else to fix, nor was it going to go away....SHE NEEDED MY INTERVENTION, the intervention only a mother can give. So I got up off my butt, stopped whining (although I still whine every now and then :-D), and started exhausting all my resources to find out what I can do as her mother to make her feel better and help her progress as quickly as she can and as quickly as she wants to. I've changed her diet 100% (and thank GOD she is eating it...some things are a little strange, but they fit the bill and she is eating it...PTL!!), changed laundry soap, shampoos, and in the process of ridding my cabinet under the sink of all chemical cleaners. Figured out what type of regulation techniques to use on her based on the stimming she is doing and what time of day it is. I pray to God each and every day and throughout the day, to give me patience, wisdom, peace and for Him to love her through me. I give Him all my insecurities that I have as a mother to have Him fill in the blanks because she is His daughter and I am only taking care of her for Him while she and I are on this earth together.

Yesterday and today God gave me a glimpse, a little reward for all the work, HE LET ME SEE MY GIRL!!!...I got to see into her sparkling eyes as she smiled back at ME, and not just smile into space at nothing. The photo above is the proof. It was the most beautiful moment I had had in a long time with her....what a gift He gave me...

Yeah life is definitely difficult right now and God never promises that it will be easy, but the difficulties and the trials come with GREAT rewards. The kind of rewards that are little to most people, but not to me, and they are priceless. I think God is pleased and I thank Him for many things, but right now I'm really thanking Him for sending me this angel named Lucy...she helped me to find Ragen....

I AM SO BLESSED...

MISCELLANEOUS PHOTOS OF THE GIRLS...for my family that is not on FB :-)

WELCOME HOME LUCY!!