Encouraged

I am certainly feeling encouraged today, the other day I felt disapointed my scrapbooking fundraiser had not raised any money for Cora Lynne but then I got to tell about Reeces Rainbow to some family & got a $20 donation which I will be disbursing into her grant. It was so bad I did not even want to look at a computer or my phone. Then I had not been paying much attention lately when I noticed that I think Cora Lynnes grant had jumped by a bunch which uplifted my spirits. Then to top it off my friend Alyssa posted asking for my page on Facebook for Celine & Cora Lynne, then so lovingly posted it to their group 4 Girls 4 Christ facebook page asking for encouargement & to like my page. So please go leave some encouragement on either their blog & check out their Giveaway for the Sutton family! Also since lots of families are in need of help right now I have decided since Cora Lynne has been blessed to help another family that needs it! So please consider helping the Morse family by donating to their FSP grant on Reeces Rainbow, they are also doing a puzzle fundraiser. They have already gone to meet her & have 2 more trips before they can bring her home. Xenia has a heart condition & they still have a long way to go before being fully funded so please consider purchasing or even sharing this fundraiser! Thanks so much!

Double the Teamwork Tuesday

So I have been traveling without access to my computer so since I have internet heres my Teamwork Tuesday post for this week & last. Lets start with the precious lil cutie from last Tuesday, Darryl. Is he not adorable? I can picture him in a family of boys playing in the dirt, getting messy & using his imagination to explore. Possibly playing with trains & cars? He looks like he would make a good son!

Date of Birth: June 2007
Gender: Male
Eyes: Gray
Hair: brown

Diagnosis: Down syndrome

 What a sweet, sunny little boy!   Darryl is going on 5.  He has brown hair and brown eyes.  Darryl is growing well, phsyically active, friendly and sociable.   More medical info available from the agency!

Single moms welcome!

$10.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption! 

Don't you want me to be a part of your family?

Next we have Priscilla! Is that not the most adorable smile? Are you her momma?

Girl, Born February 2010
Pretty Priscilla!  More photos available.   Priscilla has many facial features of FAS.  She is also struggling with "pre-leukemia", also known as congenital Myelodysplastic syndrome.    She really needs to get home!!
From her caregivers:  communicative; adequate reactions.  Character: cheerful, active, friendly, communicative, likes to play with different toys.
More photos available.

$105.50 is available towards the cost of my adoption! 

If interested in either of these kids or others on Reeces Rainbow go here & here for more information on how you can adopt.

When the going gets tough

Its getting harder & harder to fundraise but no matter what I trust in the one who always provides! The Scrapbooking thing has been a flop but thats okay I will continue on! Going to keep the code up & after this month is over I am going to use some or all the proceeds to who ever God tells me who needs it most! It could be Camp Barnabas next month or could be another Reeces Rainbow family, could be the Pregnancy Center I volunteer at, who knows God take control of this! God used yesterday when I was already discouraged the day before about what more I could do & how the fundraiser was going. Now I am uplifted cause God provided the opportunity to share about Reeces Rainbow with various family members & I got $20 for Cora Lynne so I know I should not discouraged & keep it up when the Going gets tough! I am doing an auction next for Celine on facebook so if you would like to donate please leave a comment with your email I will not post it.

A miracle

As I was working on my photo book of advocating at the page about the power of prayer. Wow gods timing is perfect! Cause region 2 is reopened praise god! Now Celine's family find her please! I will do anything to help her come home! Best news to hear all week! God is good all the time! Sorry I have been sick & did not feel up to posting the past 5 days but wanted to share good news & let you know I am okay

A homecoming fit for a Princess!

Words can barely describe, today as I watched Olivia Herrington come home where she belongs. Loads of family & friends came to greet her at the airport anticipating of this dearly loved little girl. This was the 1st time for me to be at the airport when one of the Reeces Rainbow kids came home. I also got the chance to meet Misha aka "Aaron" & meeting both of them just felt so surreal like I was in a dream. 2 kids who I was just at fundraisers for them back in October & November. I would have cried had it not been for darn allergies. It was truly unreal for me to get a picture with Olivia holding her with my olivia bracelet & oliviafest shirt on. This homecoming is one I will always remember. Beth & Lee, thanks for allowing me to be a part of Olivias journey! The welcome home crew, not even half of who was there! Coming home to a new life! Welcome home Olivia!

                                     

                                       

                                       

Beth so glad to be home with her family.

News Channel 13 even came out!

The chellsons got to be a part of it too.

Melissa Chellson & I

Just some of the several adorable pictures with Misha Chellson

Beth, Olivia, & I

                                       

                   

Friends come from many places

First of all heres the latest on Olivia who I asked you to pray for, please continue to pray for this precious girl & her family! For those that may have missed my blogpost on Having Faith I encourage you to read it & update to add her mom has blogged some since I wrote that post so if you don't follow me on Facebook & want to be kept up with the latest I encourage you to visit & follow her blog as well.

1. Here's the latest on Livy. She has now been on the conventional ventilator since Friday afternoon. She was stable through Saturday so they began to slowly start to ween her then. Last night she decided she didn't like that and her stats started to drop, causing the docs to bump the vent settings back up to where they were Friday. A couple steps forward, and a couple steps back.
   
   Because of an e......lectrolyte imbalance caused by the dialysis, they did not dialyze her yesterday, which caused her to gain another 1.4 kg in a day (roughly 3 lbs.). The docs are hearing more fluid in/around her lungs today and the chest x-rays have looked a little worse each day. They believe the influenza has probably run it's course by now and are attributing her current lung issues mainly to fluid overload caused by her Nephrotic Syndrome. Therefore, their biggest cause for concern is her fluid gain. They will be giving her another protein infusion today and possibly doing dialysis again tonight.
   
   The docs are saying she'll be on the conventional vent for another few days at least before they consider trying to pull her off of it, although, they also said they need to get the fluid issue under control before they feel comfortable taking her off the vent. Because of how complicated and intertwined her kidney disease is with the fluid overload and lung problems, it's going to be very tricky to address that.
   
   They have also decided to keep her in isolation indefinitely now, not so much to protect everyone else from her (the influenza) as it has been, but now it's to protect her from everyone else since she is so immune suppressed. Looks like we don't get a break from the masks, gowns and gloves any time soon! They have, however, been able to get a better hold of her sedation and they believe they've been able to find a good balance for her.
   
   We have been encouraged that Livy is indeed making progress, albeit slowly. Please continue to keep Livy in your prayers. Specifically that the docs would be able to control her Nephrotic Syndrome enough to get her off the vent. And pray for wisdom for the medical team as they continue to evaluate and assess what else, if anything may be contributing to her lung issues now as well as figuring out how to safely and effectively treat both her ARDS and Nephrotic Syndrome together.
   
   
   So I kinda wrote a response, in my Mothers Day Post about my dear friend Jane but wanted to write a response to all who left comments on my post Why?. First of all that day I just felt like I had to let all my emotions come out so I appreciate all your comments of encouragement. I do know that many of you have been sharing or posting or donating & I am not saying your not doing that. (just wanted to clarify that cause I know who you are & appreciate all who do!) I also wanted to state again that I have tried to reach out to other groups, not related to Reeces Rainbow but have gotten little response so I keep trying. I did share on the my memories facebook page the timeline cover I made with the girls photos & got response from that so thats good. About comments, though I appreciate when I do get comments showing your love & support, don't feel like you need to comment on every post I do unless you want to. I know not everyone has the time to leave a comment cause you have your own lifes to live but I am greatful to you for taking that time to respond. Still no orders on the digital scrapbooking but if I do get any I decided I will just give the whole $20 cause I rather do that than use my money to buy more kits for the program. I will just wait for more free kits! This journey of advocating as brought many new friends, whether I meet them this side of Heaven or not I will always be greatful to them. Friends from the UK all the way to here locally, some I know online more so than others & feel like I know them in real life. I know its Gods timing & next to him I am so greatful for all of my friends from many places that I can just share whats on my heart, my struggles, & my successes about this crazy loveable & unforgetable journey of advocating & fundraising for Reeces Rainbow kids. Really wish I could all just give you a hug right now! I don't know how I could have done every fundraiser or blogpost or whatever without YOU! My loyal readers, you are the ones that keep me blogging, even if you read & never comment I appreciate you taking the time to read what I have to say on my blog. Even if I am not a great blogger & not as wordy with my posts or have lots of official followers or a fancy blog or whatever, I THANK YOU FOR READING!! I am certainly trying my best of what to blog about, & want to thank Jane for putting the idea in my head for the Mothers Day post as I was not sure how I wanted to write what was on my heart putting different perspectives about that day into one post. Oh & one more thing even if you don't scrapbook can you please share my fundraiser for Cora Lynne that ends May 31st? I can't say enough good things about this program!
   

   

   
   

Teamwork Tuesday:Kyle

Todays teamwork Tuesday child is special to me cause he is in the same region as Celine. I would like to ask you to pray for region 2 especially today for them to reopen those doors so that families can bring home their kids & that kids like Alden or Celine or Kyle or whomever can find families.

Meet Kyle, he will be 6 years old in November. Can't you see the desperate plea in his eyes saying why don't you come for me?
Heres what his profile says:

SIGNIFICANT RISK, PLEASE ADOPT ME SOON!

Kyle is facing the institution.   He has striking blue eyes and bright blonde hair!  Kyle is medically healthy outside of his flat feet and strabismus.   Please give Kyle a chance to grow up in a loving family of his own!

$3903.50 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

Even if you can't adopt him can you skip a starbucks or soda for Kyle & donate to his grant? Better yet you can pray for his region & that a family can adopt him soon!

Thoughts on this mothers day

First of all to start this mothers, auntie, grandma, mom-to-be, moms-in-training (as my friend wished me last year), & hopeful someday mommy day. Whatever you call it, know its a special day to honor the treasure you are & I want to wish you all a Happy Moms or fill in blank day!
Going to start by sharing no matter if their your mom or not this post is to honor the special friends & family who I have grown to love whom mean so much to me.
To start off I have to of course say how proud I am of my Mommy, she really does rock! She is taxi driver, volunteer with me, dealing with the "junk" for JBF sales to fundraise & helping me with getting ready for it, posting my posts about Reeces Rainbow on her facebook & taking the time to read some if not all of them, lets me use our household items to fundraise at yard sales & JBF, has baked cookies for the yard sales & volunteered to help, donated cash & change to my fundraisers, oh yeah & not to forget she is one of not many girls out there that can rock the bass guitar (even when she was expecting some of us LOL, no wonder we all have a passion for music) I could go on & on about how awesome she is & cares for what I do. Mom, I love you very much. Thank you for everything you have done. I am so glad to have you as one of my greatest friends whom I can trust & lean on when I need it most.

Rebekah, you have been like a mom everytime one of us kids arrived. So naturally, I should not be surprised how excited you are to become a mom.

You have been such a great sister, from the moment I was born kid & daughter #3. You have loved me & supported me in my wonderful fundraising efforts & spreading the word even though we live far apart.

I am so excited for you to become a mommy to one blessed little boy, & I still can't believe my older sister is going to make me an auntie. 

6 years ago, I was in a dress which for me was an act of love for her since I don't wear dresses. I was watching my sister marry the one she loves.

Now, my dear sister I want to say I can't wait to see you as a mom cause I know you will make a fine mommy to your son! Happy Mommy-to-be day! Love ya lots!

Next I want to say my friend & partner-in-Reeces Rainbow advocacy Christina. She really does love kids, when I first met her working together in our church nursery I never could imagined our friendship being so close & that we would walk this journey together. She really longs to be a mommy, so I am continuing to pray & hope that someday I will be able to support & love on her & their child. Whether it be via adoption or birth I am having Faith God will make her a mommy someday! So happy moms-in-training & someday mommy day to my dear friend Christina! 

My friend & "big sis" Becki, (oddly enough I can't find a photo of just both of us) You have been such a big sister & have made me such like an aunt to both of your girls. I know its not always easy but your such a good mom. Happy Mothers Day dear sis & friend!

To this dear mom who I have never met in real life from the UK, who shares the same love I have for these kids & because she is a mom to a adorable daughter (well all her kids are but Tilly especially!). Happy Mums day to my UK friend, Jane who I adore & I sure hope I can meet her this side of heaven! She lovingly has supported my tireless efforts for my beautiful butterflies & I am forever greatful for her blog to bring more awareness for not just "my girls" but other kids & that she lets me continuously post my blogposts to her linkups!

Although this is mothers day I do remind you of these beautiful butterflies still waiting for their mommies!

Are you one of their mommies? Help make this their last motherless day!

Alden

Brandi

Celine

Cora Lynne

Heath

Why?

Why have I had to wait for so long? I am so happy for others but why has she not been noticed? Is it because she is older? Her region is not closed unlike Celine, she has a decent size grant for a family to get started so why has she not been chosen? She will be 6 years old. I am not complaining but lately I just want to crawl in a deep corner & never come out to blog. Fundraising is so hard right now cause everybody else is doing it & I don't want to do the same as so many are doing, or take away from the other families trying to fundraise. I have tried spreading the word through other facebook pages I am a part of but no luck at that either. I decided to stop posting to the RR groups cause I don't want to wear out the same people over & over. I almost want to stop posting on my personal page as its been hard to get response to anything. Hardly any response or shares on my posts so why bother? I am just tired & want to give up even though I know I shouldn't. Maybe its just time for a blog break for awhile, I don't know like I have said I just feel bleh about what to post. About to go on a road trip so maybe I can pull in new people to Reeces Rainbow & show people Cora Lynnes picture. Please remember Scrapbook fundraiser ends May 31st!

Reminder of Scrapbook fundraiser

Just a reminder about the scrapbook fundraiser! So far no orders have come in but I am having Faith God will provide even if its not on my own timing. Please spread the word! Everytime my code is used, 50% of my proceeds I earn will go to Cora Lynne til May 31st only.
If you have not had enough of my raving of how good it is then heres some more I have done with the program!  I can't say enough good things about it!

Teamwork Tuesday-Quinten

So I am a tad late on this weeks teamwork tuesday post but better late than never right? Right now I am struggling to post much of anything, I am just feeling bleh about posting to the same people feeling what more can I say or do? Its hard cause I am thinking of Cora Lynne, how not too many have noticed her & that its her 6th Birthday this month how she could be in a institution or close to transfer. I just keep having bad feelings that  she spends her days laying down in a crib & honestly makes me want to cry. Its also been hard in the fundraising department as right now I can only do the scrapbook fundraiser & not a single order so far but hey I am not giving up even if I just get 1 & end up giving all the proceeds. No, I am not giving up but just can't quite figure out what to write about so anyway back to todays post of Teamwork Tuesday. (Not trying to make you feel like you have to give or feel bad just got to let it out)
Meet Quinten, another precious boy almost like Quinton (who is home with his forever family!)

Their is not too much information on him just like my prayer child Alden, but thankfully he has a donation button compared to Alden who does not.

Date of Birth: August 2009
Gender: Male
Eyes: Gray
Hair: red
Character: noisy, active
Diagnosis: DS, delayed development, protein-calorie deficiency, non-malignant growth
He sounds like he would make a wonderful son for someones family! He has a $1,304.00 grant available towards his adoption.

Having faith

Having faith can be hard, especially during the hard times of life. No, I am not talking about Reeces Rainbow. Today I tell you of a story of having faith. Let me introduce to my friend Ashley, who blogs at Life According to the Christians Ashley is not only my friend in blog world but in real life as well. For you see I got to know Ashley, when their family moved here so her husband Josh could be the Youth Pastor at our church. I had the pleasure of getting to know her on/off when she volunteered with the youth ministry which at the time I was still in, but I truely got to know her when I graduated from Youth & she started a Ladies Bible Study at her house. (which I will be forever greatful for her starting it!) Anyway, If you want to hear their whole story about how they came to adopt twin girls go read their old blog posts. Right now one of their girls, Livy has been fighting for her life with a host of medical diagnoses, their family has faith in God that he can heal her & already prayers have proven that time & time again. How can they have that faith with all the unknowns? God wants us to have that faith cause he knows we need it. So can you do me a favor to pray for my little friend Olivia Faith? I have met her, held her, & loved on her before she got sick in the nursery. She has already endured so much for 18 months old. I was just reminded of her middle name & how God wants us to have that FAITH. Today as I was sitting for an hour praying for their family & Livy, I got my bible out & flipped it to my favorite verse Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version (NIV) 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. As I was thinking I wish I had a picture of her (adoption is almost finalized!) so I could remember what she looked like before & have a visual picture to pray over, I remembered the picture of both girls with a note on the back that we got at the adoption shower so I rushed out to the garage to try to find it & I did. I took it back with me to my prayer spot & put my hands over the picture & prayed over it as it layed on my favorite verse in my bible.  Dear Livy, Thank you for reminding me that we need to have Faith in God! Josh & Ashley, I am in awe of your faith & passion to press on even when things get rough.
I will conclude with sharing the most reccent update on facebook (she has not had much time for blogging!)

1. Update: Livy developed ARDS Friday for yet unknown reasons. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is a life threatening lung condition. We were told yesterday her chance of survival was 50%. She started responding better this morning, however, hearing that the docs still wanted to get her prepped for ELCS (heart/lung bypass) was a bit of a downer. Since this morning Livy has shown some good signs o......f improvement. She's still got a long way to go before she's out of the woods, but she's on the right track. They have taken her off the paralytic and lowered her oscillator to see how she does. She's very heavily sedated and they aren't entirely sure how she's going to respond off of it. We've been learning more about ARDS and what we've learned is very scary. She's still critical and her outlook is still uncertain. With the improvements she's been showing, IMO, her chances have improved from the 50% they were yesterday but the docs haven't said what they are at this point. Tomorrow they are hoping to try and switch her to the other ventilator. We are hoping to hear results back from her blood cultures tomorrow evening which will hopefully shed more light on what's causing the ARDS. They are still taking it hour by hour and one step at a time. Thank you so much for your continued prayers, I truly believe God is honoring them. I'll keep the updates coming as we keep hearing more.

   
   

   I will occasionally post Olivia updates on here, but mostly do on my facebook but wanted to share with my non-fb friends to be praying. HAVING FAITH THAT GODS GOT THIS! My 2 favorite sayings together!

   
   

   

   
   

Wishes on your 6th Birthday

Most of us would probably wishing for a unicorn & ice cream or to live in a castle with ponies on our 6th birthdays or some other fantasy. For Cora Lynne her fantasy, is about her dreams coming true of finding her forever family. Even if its not my Birthday if I never enjoyed the life a family could bring that is what I would wish for. Someone to hold tight to me & love me like I have never been loved before. Though I don't know her birth date it is sometime this month so today I honor her. No 6 year old deserves the life she has. Sadly if she has not already been transferred her birthday will not be celebrated & cherished she will not have cake or presents or any of the fun things 6 yr olds love to do but be taken from the place she grew up in to an adult mental institution. While some are better than others its not the same as a love that a family can bring for her. She has waited far too long unnoticed & unloved. Will you help me make it a Happy Birthday for her? Pray, spread the word about her, or donate $6 to her grant! Happy 6th Birthday my precious Cora Lynne, I hope you are out of a crib & that someone might love on you today whether its your birthday or not. Love you baby girl, I am praying & trying so hard to fundraise & advocate for you! I pray your forever family finds you soon & that this is the last birthday you spend without the love of a family!

Please remember Cora Lynnes scrapbook fundraiser too! Heres my scrapbook I just started for Celine! More samples of what you can do with this great program!

SPECIAL DEAL ON THE SCRAPBOOK SOFTWARE!

This weekend, My Memories have some good deals going on including 15% off the digital software! So as you recall I have mentioned this several times & I am in love with this software! Well, heres the scoop! Usually you can get this program for $39.97 well they have it 15% off which makes it $33.97 then if thats not enough you can use my personal code for $10 off so you would be getting it for $23.97! In addition to that you get a $10 store credit to use on purchasing the kits you want & also currently you can get a free photobook! Very great value for $23.97 if you ask me! If you want to see what I have made with this awesome program go look here, here, & here To order go to My Memories, 1. Order the my memories digital 3 program with this code STMMMS49256 at checkout 2. You will recieve a $10 discount from that code & will recieve a $10 store credit. Also will recieve a free photobook. 3. For every $20 they send me everytime that code is used I will donate 50% to Cora Lynne til May 31st 4. Leave a comment here if you got the scrapbook program with a message to Cora Lynne & her future family whoever they might be & I will include you on a page of Cora Lynnes very own scrapbook I got for her back in December. How cool is that you get to make forever stories/memories of your own life, benefit an orphan, & be apart of her story! Check it out today!

Faith & my new digital scrapbook craze!

I am having Faith that Region 2 will reopen, I prayed for an hour in my closet Monday night listening to my christian music praying & begging on my knees to our Mighty God for Region 2, for the goverment, for the families & kids still waiting in region 2, for the process to speed up, for the paperwork & anyone who touches it. I even cried, as I hurt for Celine,  Preston, Megan, & all the others. I also found some more healing of the past but mainly wanted Monday to be about Region 2 of my week long prayer fast. Its the faith God gives me that I continue to jump into the waters of fundraising. I DID NOT EXPECT TO BE JUMPING RIGHT NOW, AS ITS OVERWHELMING, YADA YADA YADA. How can I have that faith if I do not jump & try my best? Devil is trying to attack me not to blog or use it to fundraise or fundraise at all. He is the one who was trying to distract me in that closet & letting my feelings get the best of me. He tried but he did NOT SUCCEED! TRUST ME ITS NOT EASY TO FUNDRAISE, ESPECIALLY WITH NO WORD ABOUT REGION 2 & TRYING TO PRAY ITS ALL IN HIS HANDS. Not worrying or fretting is very tough to do but I am TRYING TO HAVE FAITH THAT ALL THINGS WILL WORK TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE HIM. I simply wanted to get a scrapbook program & support Lyla, I had not thought of the fact that I would be signing up to do yet another fundraiser & that I completely forgot precious Cora Lynnes Birthday was this coming month. Last year, I did the 31 day challenge blogging everyday & attempting to fundraise for her even though her exact birth date is unknown to me. I was wanting to do something in honor of her birthday this year & thats when I found this program & now I am crazy about it! Heres a flyer I came up with for the fundraiser! Edited to be able to see the flyer better. If you can't see it still then go to my post here which has all the details.

Teamwork Tuesday-Andrey

I am a part of this group called Teamwork Tuesday where we feature different orphans each week. This week is Andreys turn.

Andrey is just like any of the other kids, he shares the same birth month as Cora Lynne but he is a year younger but he deserves a life with a forever family of his own. Think you might be his forever family? go click on his name & contact Reeces Rainbow. Help make his Birthday wish come true by spreading the word! Can't adopt him? Then you can Pray for him or donate to his grant linked above. Like the thing I whipped up for this post? I did that with the Scrapbook program called My Memories, please check out the fundraiser I am doing having to do with this program for Cora Lynne.