A post about four kids, none of them mine...

My fellow Reece's Rainbow Angel Tree Warrior Stori is offering matching grants to two families who travel soon to get their children. I love Stori's heart, and she advocates for sweet Kai (who lives in the same country as Baby Girl) and my little love Suzanne 15H. Kai and Suzanne are two of my very favorite children on Reece's Rainbow...two of the ones I would be SO EXCITED if I saw that they had families coming for them.

The matching grants offered are for two families who are going to be travelling SOON to very expensive countries and need additional funds to be able to travel to get their children. One of the families just received the devastating news that the child they were planning on adopting passed away. This is very real, folks. Kids are literally dying. That family is now pursuing a blind referral. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers as they grieve and process and move forward.

Go check out Stori's blog to get the details of the matching grants for the families who will be traveling THIS WEEK and prayerfully consider what you read there. Look at what Stori and her husband are personally offering and ask yourself if you could give something to one or both of the families.

And finally, here is a picture of my sweet Suzanne who has already been transferred to an institution. Are you her mommy or daddy? I will help you fundraise if you are!

I'm in love!

Yesterday I received a surprise package from my agency. In the package was an updated child study on Baby Girl, new photos, and an eighteen minute video of my sweetie!!! (Just filmed on Monday!)

This is the first time we have seen her in action. It is also the first time I have seen her smile (all of her previous pictures were serious, sad, or with an irritated expression. A lot of them were also blurry, and now I know why.

She is amazing and beautiful, smart and active, funny and strong! I am just stunned that I get to be this adorable little girl's mommy! I think I'd better go re-childproof my house, though. She is going to keep us on our toes! She is standing on her own and can even play the tambourine and/or dance while standing unsupported. Her child-study says she can take about four steps unassisted, but the video didn't show that. What it did show was her scooting on her tush, crawling, standing, dancing, playing, looking at a book, laughing, smiling, responding, and so much more. The whole family is absolutely in love with her. The waiting hadn't gotten painful at all before yesterday. Well, suddenly it has. The three to four more months I will have to wait stretch out in front of me. I feel I could go crazy, but I won't...I'll enjoy my current kiddos, spend as much time with them as I can, and rethink the storage in the lower cabinets in my kitchen.

Since I can't post a picture of Baby Girl, I will post a picture of the other three taken just after The Philosopher got back from his first Boy Scout high adventure trip. He spent nearly a week canoeing the Minnesota Boundary Waters! We sure missed him, but he had an incredible time. Maybe someday I'll actually post about the fun stuff we did this summer, but right now my brain is all in the future, and it seems that future isn't coming fast enough.