Money?

I just want to say that I am overwhelmed right now. Money is coming from places that I cannot figure out...SERIOUSLY!!! We were out of town this week, and our grant fund has jumped $1150 from when we left. I don't know where any of it came from. Anyone want to claim all or some part of $1150? 

Please, vote Melanie Hollis!

Many of you who read my blog have children; many have special needs children. Here's what you probably don't know: across the country, children with special needs are legally allowed to be restrained in "time-out" type rooms. These children are locked away IN SCHOOL with no way out, and NO SUPERVISION!!! Many of these children have health concerns that make that very unsafe, not to mention the fact that it is legalized torture. Imagine your child. You send them to school to receive an education, to grow emotionally and intellectually. Now picture your child locked in a room all alone, nobody caring that they might be screaming for help, nobody to know if they are having a seizure, they might even be forgotten and left there all day. Is that what you would want for your child (special needs or not!)? 

Melanie Hollis is running as a WRITE-IN candidate for Tennessee state senate (District 23), because she WILL NOT STAND for this type of legalized abuse. Melanie is the mother of 5 children (2 DS and 1 FAS). She has a humungous heart, and I promise you she has the ability to do the people justice as senator (after all she relies entirely on God, and let's face it there is nothing too hard for Him). I don't live in Tennessee, so I can't vote for her (promise, I would if I could, Melanie :). But if you do, or know someone who does, PLEASE WRITE IN MELANIE HOLLIS on November 2nd.

Below are a few links to some of her YouTube clips (2-5 minutes a piece...really worth your time) and a link for her blog.

Melanie's Blog

Read THIS if you want to see an interview with a mother whose daughter was restrained this way.

Read THIS and THIS to know more about why Melanie is running (and about the proposed bill for this method of restraint)

You need to know this!

Want to know why Sasha needs saving?

Read This.

Don't you just love her already?

This is Nicole. She is 2 1/2, and she needs your help. Nicole is in an orphanage in Russia. She was born with dwarfism. Nicole's family had to back out of their adoption. I saw her face 100 times as I continually checked for our family's FSP page on the RR site. I smiled every time I saw her, because she is so darn cute! And I knew she had a family here waiting for her and loving her. Now, I am deeply saddened for her. You cannot look at her and tell me that she isn't adorable. Want to help Nicole? You don't have to adopt her. Click here and you can donate toward her grant fund to make it easier for someone else to adopt her. There are so many families who are willing to help these sweet children, but money is usually the biggest obstacle. Please help Nicole by helping her family...whoever they are. You should know that any thing you donate to Nicole's grant fund STAYS with her. If another family should back out of adopting her, the money you donate stays with Nicole. This is the case for all RR children.

Buddy Walk Weekend

We had a VERY tiring, but super exciting weekend. Saturday was our MONSTER yard sale. All of our mommy group friends were so wonderful and contributed sacrificially to the sale. Many people donated items for us to sell, and several also donated their time. We have a lot of individual thank you's to be sending out. We really could not have done it without all of your support. Special thanks to:

Shey: for allowing us to use her house, take up her entire garage for 2 weeks, helping me haul stuff up her steep drive-way at 5am, and working like a dog all day :)

Stephanie: The whole idea was hers (not to mention some larger items :), she also helped me sort and tag stuff one day, and spent a good deal of the day working the sale with us

Angela: Who set up and ran "Sasha's Cafe" (her idea), where she sold coffee, mocha, lattes, hot chocolate, homemade pumpkin spice muffins, and donuts. And she came very early to help haul stuff up the giant hill.

Allison and Jason: Who gave us a larger table (in order to accommodate our growing family), donated some great items to the sale, and helped set up early in the morning

Alyssa: Who despite being pregnant and having a husband with a crazy schedule managed to find time to come just as the sun was peeking over the horizon to help set up

Melina and Scott: For overnighting me boxes of stuff to sell

Carlyn, Jessica, Sara, The Dillon Family, & Ms. Georgia: Who all donated SO much!

EVERYONE WHO PRAYED FOR THE SUCCESS OF THIS SALE!!!!

We made $1150!

Eating some early morning Banana Bread on Ms. Shey's porch

Our next exciting venture was our very first Buddy Walk. This is a walk sponsored by PADS (Parent Advocates Down Syndrome). It is an annual event held in various venues around the nation. Birmingham's happened to be this weekend, and we were fortunate enough to go and get connected with other Reece's Rainbow families. We met up with some amazing people, one of whom happened to be Andrea, the founder of Reece's Rainbow. She really is a beautiful woman with a shining spirit. The kids had fun, too (in bounce houses, eating suckers and getting tattooed :)

 

Obedience

In the past few weeks, I have heard a lot of things from a lot of people. These things range from, "I don't think you understand the impact this is going to have on your family" (true) to "Wow, you guys are amazing. I am so blessed to know you" (not true). Please, don't take this personally if you are one of the above (if you made either comment, you are not the only one), but both of those things make me cringe a little on the inside. The first just makes me want to scream, "really, don't you think that we KNOW that we DON'T KNOW what we are getting into?" But then I might sound crazy :) The second comment sort of makes me sick to my stomach. Many of you know that I read Katie Davis' blog, and that I think she is amazing, but it dawned on me one day that she is just a normal person being obedient to God and allowing Him to use her (don't stone me Katie followers :)

Here is the truth. I am scared as all get out to adopt Sasha. BUT I also have peace about the decision. The truth is that we are not amazing people. We are average, everyday, ordinary people. We are slaves by choice. And the God we serve is capable of all things. It is clear to me that Sasha is meant to be a part of our family. The decision to adopt him was not a quick decision without any forethought. But it was an decision to be obedient. 

Here is the bottom line: 

My sweet friend told me the other day, "Lindsay, you can NOT do this. But God can, and that is how He will be glorified." (I know, she's smart isn't she?) My honest prayer is that people will see our actions, but not see us. They will perceive us as mere instruments being used by the LORD. I know that God is asking us to do this, and I cannot stand before Him one day and pretend I had no idea. 

If you want to help us, pray. Pray that God would get ALL of the glory. Pray that our marriage would withstand all of Hell as it is thrown at us, and that our family will emerge strong and grounded in the Word of God.

"Slide-head"

A bad hair morning

Walking across the "balance beam"

Momma's Boys

Cuddling and watching a "moomoo" (movie)

Non-profit up and running!

YEA! You can now click on Sasha's picture and make an electronic, tax deductible donation toward our adoption costs. 100% of the donations will go toward our costs (minus PayPal fees if you choose that method). Check it out! I'm not cool enough to know how to create a button yet, but I'm getting there. Hopefully, I will figure it out soon and then you can all grab it and post it on your blogs :)

National DS Awareness Month

October is National Down syndrome awareness month. I certainly do not have a wealth of knowledge to spread on the topic, but I am learning so that I can be the best possible mommy for Sasha. I would like to share some of what I have learned:

1. Down syndrome is named after the Dr. who discovered it (Dr. Down).

"I think it's time for everyone to start thinking "UP" instead of "Down." I wish the name of the doctor who discovered Down syndrome was Dr. Up instead of Dr. Down. Then maybe people would start with a better attitude toward us than they do now. Maybe they would understand what we are all about and what we are capable of doing." 

-Ann M. Forts (member of the Board of Directors of the National Down Syndrome Congress, Editor-in-Chief of Down Syndrome Headline News, motivational speaker, "Self Empowerment Award" winner, and an individual living with Down syndrome)

2. People with Down syndrome have a third copy of the 21st chromosome, which is why you will hear the term Down syndrome interchanged with Trisomy-21 at times. These children are "chromosomally enhanced"!

3. Children with Down syndrome can be just as healthy as other children, however, there seems to be some connection between the extra chromosome and certain health problems. Some of these include: congenital heart defects, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory problems (due to abnormal immune systems), low muscle tone, poor vision, poor hearing, and thyroid problems. This is a partial list, but it is very important to remember that not all children with DS will have all or even any of these issues. 

*For those who are wondering, Sasha has a large scar on his chest indicating he HAS had open heart surgery. Breaks my heart knowing what he went through and I wasn't there for him, but I'm so thankful he did have that surgery so he could be a part of our family.

4. Children with Down syndrome are all unique in their abilities, personalities, and gifts...just like every other child. Please do NOT generalize or stereotype a child based on what you have heard about "Down syndrome children". 

"He has developed exactly like a normal child. It's just that his pace is slower. He's just like any child-he disobeys like another child, and he wants all the things that other little children want"

-Anonoymous parent of a child with DS

I encourage all of you to take advantage of October. Feel the chill in the air and snuggle up with some hot cider and a good book about down syndrome :) (I am reading, Babies with Down Syndrome: A New Parents' Guide Edited by Karen Stray-Gundersen - slightly outdated, but what our library had :)

Speechless!

I found this in my e-mail today:

"My 11 year old Caroline is selling hair ribbons like this to her friends

to raise money for Sasha.

We will keep you posted on the results. May not raise a lot of money but

the message on the ribbon means more."

What do you say to the generosity and outpouring of love from an 11 year-old girl who does not even know our family? I'm still crying (and I got the e-mail 3 hours ago). 

If you do not believe that God exists...call me!

Please check this out: You know what breaks my heart?

This is the link to someone's family blog. Someone I have never met. Another amazing person who was touched by Sasha's story. This was blogged before we committed to adopt Sasha. My e-mail inbox and my blog have been filled with comments from people I have never met: people who love my son just as much as I do.

I wish I could tell you just how much I experience God everyday, but you would have to be with me day in and day out to hear all of my phone conversations and read all of my e-mails. 

Sasha's story is bigger than just a another child who needs a home. Someone asked me last night, "knowing what we now know, that you were always intended to be Sasha's family, why do you think that He had to endure so much in his little life? Why couldn't it just have been a smooth road for him from the beginning?"

* What many of you do not know is that there was not only one family before us, there were 2! Sasha lost two families on 3 occassions!

I don't actually have the real answer (God's answer), but I speculate that it is because he is special :) If the road was easy, Sasha never would have touched so many hearts. People would not have had the opportunity to dig deeper into their hearts and be changed (myself included). I can name several people who are different today because of Sasha. God always ordained for him to have this purpose. I am just thankful that He counts us worthy to be this amazing child's family.

Thank you, Jessie for sharing this blog post with us.