Angels looking for families - BOH host only kids

There were 4 BOH host only kids who came for the winter camp program that did not find forever families.  I am including their information below.  Anyone interested can contact Patrice Gancie (pgancie@cradlehope.org).  I really hope that these kids all find their families.  It may be possible for them to be hosted again this summer if there is a family interested.  Also the host families could provide additional pictures and information from their hosting experience to potential families as well:

Sveta, 7 years old--a fantastic, smart, spunky girl.  An issue for any prospective family is that Sveta was burned by boiling water than spilled from a stove a few years ago, so she has scars on her back, stomach and legs.  The family took her to a burn specialist who said Russian doctors did a good job of treating the scars and doing skin grafts, but she may benefit from some further surgery on one leg.  But her mobility isn't affected at all, and she's amazingly not self-concious about the scars.  She easily changed into a swimsuit to swim with the other kids, and when one little boy asked about the scars, she simply said they were from an accident a while ago.

Anya, 12 years old--beautiful, smiling, caring girl who was the escorts' helper, wonderful with the younger kids.  She has a 15 year old brother in the same orphanage, and while we were told she could be adopted separately, it was clear she missed him and wants to stay together with him in a family.  We're trying to find an older empty-nester couple who would consider them.

Aleksandr, 10 years old--Bright and happy, very affectionate.  His single host mom is still considering whether to adopt him.  He is active and busy, but I was with him a lot and I don't think he was out of hand.

Aleksei, just turned 11--I love this guy.  Bright, considerate, a little gentleman who can be a charmer once he becomes acquainted with someone.  He was staying with a host-only family, and we just didn't have anyone who wanted to meet him.

Baby steps

The past year has been full of ups and downs, steps forward and then steps back.  It has to be hard to learn learn to trust us, to learn to be part of our family.  You have rough patches and then you get a glimpse of something catching together and you realize that you have moved forward again.  Sometimes a picture says it all.

BOH Winter 2012 Kids have arrived

I was lucky to be able to meet the 5 children who traveled to the midwest this year for the winter BOH program.  It brought me back to when we were waiting at the airport to meet our little V.  Seeing the children with so much hope at the holidays, it was amazing.  If anyone is considering hosting this summer, there will be informational meetings in January and February in Chicago.  Contact Patrice Gancie (pgancie@cradlehope.org) to find out more information.  I am hoping all 5 - well actually 6 as one of the kids has a sibling that was to young to travel - find forever families this holiday season.

Making a difference - be an ANGEL this holiday season

One of the blogs that I follow Creating My Own Little Nirvana had a post that brought tears to my eyes called "This is Katya".  Katya is a young woman who aged out of her orphanage in Siberia and is trying to make it as a young mother.  Unfortuantely this too often is the case with orphans there and it is hard knowing this could have been our own daughter V if she had not been adopted.  I am attaching a link to the story and hoping that other Angels can find it in their heart to send Katya a care package.  There are instructions on the blog on how to send the package, it is very important to list everything as USED for customs and make sure that the declared value is $25 or less total. 

Maybe together we can help make the holidays a little brighter for someone in need.
http://creatingmyownlittlenirvana.blogspot.com/2011/12/this-is-katya.html#comment-form

One Year - Where has the time gone?

One year ago we were in Biro and working hard towards getting our daughter home.  We had already been to court (Dec. 9th) and we were in our 10 day waiting period.  I am not sure where the time went, sometimes it felt like time was just dragging by, other times like it was flying.  This year has had its ups and downs, the good times, the not so good times and the times where we just had to keep moving forward.  One year later and our daughter has grown several inches, gained a few pounds, has glasses and receiving treatment so she can see, has had 14 teeth pulled and has 11 new teeth in her mouth.  Our daughter went from speaking 2 word phrases in Russian to full sentences in English.  V went from never being to school to doing 1/2 a year of Pre-K and is just finishing up her first 1/2 of the year of K.  V gets lots of therapies, speech, behavioral/developmental/art/OT and also has fun doing Russian Ballet and gymnastics.  She has gone from living in an orphanage to being part of a family with more grace and patience then most adults would have.  She has transformed from our little visitor to our daughter and we can't imagine our lives without her.   Now for the part I still had not done - Photos:

Heading back to Russia after her hosting program

With her brother in Moscow on Christmas - getting ready to go home

Our Russian Ballerina

Life is more fun with your siblings

Holiday fun after being home 1 year

Hosting families needed for summer 2011 in Chicago area and on the East Coast

Bridge of Hope (the program we hosted and adopted our daughter from) is still looking for 3 host families for this summer for 3 sibling groups.  One of the groups is a sister/brother sibling set that we met while we were there in December.  Irina and Ilya (ages 8, 7) could not be any sweeter and their one goal is to find a family together.  I have additional videos and pictures of them from our visit.  I could go on and on about Irina and Ilya and if given the opportunity would gladly tell everyone and anyone how sweet and well behaved they were.  They were also very talented dancers (I got to see a preview of a New Years show they were going to be doing).   There is also Svetlana 8 and her brother Andrei 10 and Anastasia 7 and her brother Kirill who is 5 and one of the cutest red heads you will have ever seen.  Anastasia was hosted summer but her family was unable to complete the adoption.  They list her as being happy, playful, brave, smart and well adjusted.

To find out information for any of these wonderful children, please contact Patrice Gancie (pgancie@cradlehope.org).  Time is running out for these kids to find hosts for the summer and I can say that our experience last summer was one of the best of our lives.  Our daughter is thriving at home and I can't imagine our lives without her.

Adjusting

We have been home a month, I can't believe it.  There are days where it feels like it has been much longer and other days where I would swear we just walked in the door.  The good news is we are all adjusting and most of the time it does not feel like we have a "visitor" but that V is a part of our family.  For an adoptive parent, that is a big step starting to feel like this is permanent.  For V, it will take much longer.  She has started talking about Russia all the time, it is part of most of her conversations.  I have been reminding her that this is home now, but I don't think she believes it.  She is starting to lay claim to her part in the family which makes me smile.  We are now "my mommy, my poppy, my Chase" and she has "my room" and "my boots".  There are times when she is so relaxed that I feel she has been here forever and then the scared child comes back out and I remember that although a month has gone by, that is such a small part of time in her last 5 and 1/2 years.