Poland!

The day is finally here, we are headed to meet our girl!!  We know many of you have had questions about our trip and we wanted to take a minute to share.

We are leaving at four o'clock this afternoon but because of the time difference and layover, we won't arrive in Poland until late Sunday night. We will spend Monday in Warsaw for an interview at the Public Adoption Center. On Monday afternoon, we will ride the train three hours south to Sosnoweic where we have another interview on Tuesday with the regional Adoption Center. If all goes well, we hope to meet Amelia on Tuesday afternoon and spend as much time as they will allow visiting her on Wednesday and Thursday before taking the train back to Warsaw and flying home on Friday. 

Specific prayer requests:

- That our interviews go well and we will be able to clearly articulate God's love to the directors in why we would like to adopt Amelia.

- The file that they gave us says that Amelia cries whenever she is touched. We are praying specifically that she would be able to connect with us in a really special way. I have been praying when I put Claire to bed every night that God would give Amelia dreams of us and that some of those walls would begin to be broken down.

- It is uncommon but possible for the judge to decide to waive the bonding period on trip two (this would shorten our second trip by at least 2-4 weeks). Our hope is that because of her age and the physician letters that we submitted because of her heart, the judge would be open to waiving that requirement for us so that we can get her home and access to medical care more quickly. It would also helps us significantly financially (and emotionally as we won't have to be away from the other kids as long!).

- That we will be able to advocate for a very short time between trips. We are ready to have her home!

- And finally, for the strength to say goodbye at the end of the week and that Amelia's heart would be protected so that meeting her and then turning around and leaving would not create another wall in her heart for us to overcome. -- or even that our court date would be soon enough that we don't have to leave at all!!! ;)

We want miracles! For God's power and love to reach her and all of the many people who are involved in her care and adoption. Please join us in believing for that.

Thank you for your support and encouragement!  We feel so blessed to have such a big army behind and before us. We will update as much as we can!

ONE YEAR!

It has been ONE YEAR since this little girl entered our lives!  I can't imagine how we ever did life without her, she has changed us in so many ways.

In the last month, Claire started crawling! Something that less than 3% of children with Down syndrome do before their first birthday and she had the added challenge of her heart defect as well.

She finally got to 16 pounds!!  And she's 27 inches long.  Her favorite things are: bubbles, her vanity mirror, being outside, food, kisses, necklaces (as toys and for chewing on!), and mommy.  She HATES water and anyone who might possibly be a doctor or nurse (we don't blame her).  Due to quite a few recent (and scary!) choking episodes, she is back to just breast milk (preemie nipple) and pureéd foods but she did get a cupcake at her birthday party!

She is able to remain standing when we place her up against the couch or ottoman (especially if there is food at the top!!) and from her stomach, she can come up into "bear stance" but then she isn't quite sure what to do next.

She has a combined endoscopy / bronchoscopy / laryngoscopy coming up in the very near future and has to have an additional surgery for her eyes that will be done by the plastic surgeon. Otherwise she is doing well!

The last year has not gone quite like we expected but we wouldn't trade it for the world! We are on a journey that we didn't know we needed and we have the most amazing tour guide <3.

Thank you all for cheering us on!!!

11 Months

Where has the time gone? Just 30 days and this pretty little lady will be ONE! 

She weighs 15lb 11oz (4th percentile) and is 27 inches long (4th percentile).  She is wearing 3-6 month clothes, size 2 diapers and size 1 shoes.

This month she started holding her own bottle!! Because she is drinking 11-month-old amounts through a preemie nipple, it takes her a looooooong time to finish a bottle so this is a very welcome milestone! She also started eating table foods this month. So far she has tried scrambled eggs, homemade vegetable/bean soup, toast, and cubed butternut squash. She has been consistently losing weight since her 10 month appointment so we will be adding olive oil (we can't add heavy cream yet since she isn't one but that's coming up next) to as many things as we can this month to try to see if we can get her at least maintaining and hopefully gaining again, there is also a concern that we may have to do some more testing because of her vocal cords/swallowing but we are going to wait a little longer to see if she improves on her own since solids are still quite new for her. Otherwise she is doing fantastic! 

She also entered the "I only want my Mommy" stage this month, I am curious to see what happens when she finds out she is going to have to share soon. Her personality is shining more and more every day. She is hysterical, very expressive, and makes the best faces! She loves music, food, and bouncing and she hates [I mean, really HATES] baths. She favors her right hand for eating and "waving" and she kicks her right foot in and out when she gets excited! She has self-feeding with her hands/fingers figured out. She holds her bottle with her pinky up. She has started pulling up to her knees and she rocks back and forth on all fours. This month she also started reaching her arms up when she wants to be picked up AND she started sleeping in her crib in her room! She sleeps through the night (7:30pm-6:30am) most nights now that she's in her own room - her brother still doesn't sleep all night and was waking her up a lot when she was in our room.

I have *reluctantly* started planning her first birthday "Under the Sea" celebration!  I just can't believe it's almost here already. We are so thankful for our little princess <3!

Claire & Adoption Update

We know that we have been quiet and many of you have been waiting anxiously for an update!!

Claire's eye surgery went very well.  Compared to her other surgeries, it was very, very minor - other than a bloody nose (and bloody eyes) for the rest of the day, you wouldn't have even known she'd had surgery. She finished up a course of antibiotic eye drops and now she's hopefully all fixed up. We just have to wait a little longer to make sure that it was successful. Her canals are very small so she may need tubes put in or to have the same procedure repeated.

Claire did lose a pound over the last month so we are adding in an extra GI appointment (between regular appointments) for her to be evaluated again. She is around 15lb now and will be 11 months old tomorrow (she was 16lb 4oz at 10 months).

Otherwise, she is doing fantastic!!!

And now for an adoption update...

Things are moving along and we have found favor at every single turn! If you remember back to my post about the five loaves and two fish (featuring our sweet friend Madison), I talked about how God multiplied one little boy's gift and they had leftovers!! I am so humbled and excited to share with you that we are not only FULLY-FUNDED but we have been able to bless another adoptive family with our "leftovers." God is faithful and you all are amazing! I remember telling a friend when we first started this journey that I knew God was calling us to bring this little girl home but that it took so much faith to commit to her - it meant that she was counting on us to find a way. I prayed specifically that God would begin to provide by stirring the hearts of His people to come alongside of us and you have all BLOWN US AWAY. This isn't over, we still have a long road ahead raising two sweet babies with special needs, one who will need lots of extra care for a while, and I'm still praying the same prayer - that God would stir the hearts of his people to come alongside of us. We cannot do this alone but we are confident that God knows and will provide for all of our needs.

We found a little over two weeks ago that Amelia has a heart defect and, as long as the information we received is accurate, it will need to be repaired through surgery. I called Claire's cardiologist to discuss the report and her heart surgeon happened to be talking to him in his office at that exact moment that I called. I get goosebumps thinking about all of the ways that God has provided along this journey. They both looked over her, very limited, medical "file" together (it's a half-page in total) and actually wrote a letter for us that will hopefully help accelerate the adoption even more, they both feel that she needs to be evaluated as soon as possible.

Amelia also failed all of her hearing exams and doesn't seem to respond to sounds. We are so anxious to get her home! She has a full medical team (thanks to Claire for paving the way and the amazing doctors and therapists at Mary Bridge) who are anxiously awaiting her arrival and saving spaces in their schedules.

We still hope to travel in June! The ONLY thing we are waiting for now is our travel dates from the Ministry in Poland. Please pray with us that we can travel very soon, for favor with the Polish judge; that we get assigned a court date soon, that he establishes a shorter period of required bonding so that we can get her home quickly so that she can be evaluated by our awesome medical team and so that we can return home to our big kids as soon as possible! I've also been praying that God would begin preparing her heart for us. The way that the Polish adoption process works, her bond with us will determine if and how quickly we can bring her home, and we would love for you to join with us in prayer for that as well.

Thank you friends!!!!!!!!!  We will update the second we have travel dates!

Getting ready for surgery

Claire and Mommy finished their first half marathon together!

Claire got to start eating soft table foods last week with
the hope of helping her gain some weight

Self-feeding = more baths and Claire HATES baths! :(

Such a peaceful sleeper (she sleeps with her eyes open <3)

She LOVES to be outside in the sunshine

Ten Months

TEN months!!  She made it to the double digits!  

Claire is 26 inches long (2nd percentile) and weighs 16lb 5oz (14th percentile). She is wearing 3-6mo clothes.

She has started rocking on her hands and knees. Her favorite thing is bouncing up and down on her knees or when being held. She started clapping this month and waves her arms up and down when we say "yay!" She loves to laugh and she has started "yelling" when she gets excited. She loves attention and has a smile to share with anyone who will give it to her. She also started standing (if propped) but she will only stay if food is involved ;). 

We were able to give her her first "bites" of food at speech therapy and she did fantastic! She has figured out "biting" with her front teeth but not "mashing" with her gums so that is what we are focusing on so that she can move onto things other than pureés. She is also getting pumped breast milk through a preemie nipple.

In physical therapy we are working on crawling, reaching, and putting weight through her arms and legs.

Thank you for loving our girl and for continuing to follow her journey. We appreciate you all so very much!

Amelia Update!!!!!

We are so excited to share our FIRST Amelia update!!!  I'm sure we'll be full of updates soon when she's finally in our arms, but for now, information is few and far between so you can imagine how excited we are about this first update!!

Isn't she just beautiful?!

Along with the pictures, we received a very thorough developmental evaluation! The information confirmed our suspicions that Amelia is most likely left alone in her crib. She is 16 months old and is not yet able to sit on her own and she doesn't know how to hold/play with toys. It says that any tactile stimulation makes her cry which means that she probably isn't ever held :(. She also has trouble tracking objects with her eyes, she doesn't make any sounds (talking/babbling), and she doesn't turn her head toward sounds which makes them think that she doesn't hear well. We won't know what any of this truly means until we are home and able to get her medical attention but it definitely makes us want to hurry through this process so that she can have the love and care that she so desperately needs!

Additionally, we requested any photos that they had of her (the ones in her file are a year old) four weeks ago and all of the pictures that they sent on Friday were taken within a 16 minute time span. It seems unusual that the only pictures they would have over the last year were staged because we asked for pictures. Of course we are so very thankful for the pictures, they are all that we have! It just makes us sad that she doesn't have more and it further makes us wonder about her level of care.

Oh what a day it will be when we finally get to hold her in our arms!!!!! <3



ADOPTION UPDATE:

Several of you have asked us about the name "Mimi" and where it came from. Reece's Rainbow is a non-profit organization that lists children with Down syndrome and other special needs who are available for adoption and also helps get them home! In order to maintain the privacy of the children who are listed, since it is a public site, they change the names of all of the listed children. Mimi is the name that was made up for Amelia just for their site. Her name IS Amelia and if we give her a nickname, it will most likely be Mia (Mee-uh), not Mimi ;). BUT if you mail a check to Reece's Rainbow, please do list that it is for "Mimi / The Howells" since that is what our account with them is under.

So here is where we are at with all of the paperwork / fundraising....

Our dossier is almost complete! We are literally just waiting on one document to come back from Oregon (Justin was born there) and we will be ready to send it. We have to mail a $10,000 check to our agency in order for them to submit our dossier to Poland so we hope to have that amount very soon so that we don't fall behind on getting that approved. After it is sent, it has to be translated and approved but we hear that it's a pretty quick process in Poland. Our USCIS (US Immigration) application was received on April 8th which puts as at about May 28th to receive that approval. After that is done, we will be ready to travel as long as we have all of our money in order!!  Our goal is to be fully-funded by that date (5/28) so that when we receive our travel date, we will be ready to go and can just focus on preparing to travel.  At this point, we could travel as early as the beginning of June!

The estimated total of are expenses is $35,126.88. The total of what we have both already paid ourselves and what we have raised so far is $12,794.70, meaning that we have $22,332.18 left to raise (in just 6 weeks).  It sounds like such a big number but knowing that we have already paid/raised 1/3 of it in just the last month is HUGE!!! It is such a testament to both the power and provision of God and to our generous friends! We do hope to have about $3,000 more as soon as possible in order to submit our dossier (a delay in submitting our dossier could set us further behind) and I've been working on even more fundraising projects to hopefully get a quicker return to help us meet that goal. I am planning to make Amelia (and her siblings) a book with the pictures and stories of all of those who helped to bring her home and I'm planning to make some artwork with the names to hang on the wall as well, we have such wonderful stories of generosity to share with them!!  THANK YOU for all that you have done in sharing our story, telling your friends and family about our fundraisers, and for helping us bring Amelia home <3.


Please keep sharing our links!:
Current Fundraisers: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.533890950083388.1073741831.465731646899319&type=1
FSP (tax-deductible donations): http://reecesrainbow.org/89467/sponsorhowell-3

Someone's Life Depends on It

A look into what we've been learning .... an adoption update .... and a LONG-awaited update on Miss Claire <3.



Isn't it funny how we can hear the same words / stories / Scriptures over and over and over but it isn't until we live it out that we finally have that "ah hah" moment? I don't know about you but this happens to me ALL the time!

The Scripture references adoption quite often in reference to our relationship with the Father and how we are "adopted" as His children through the sacrifice of His Son. As we are on our own journey of adoption, the parallels seem to just keep coming and coming. Some of them we are currently walking through and some we are yet to, but in our classes and in talking to other families, we have learned some really powerful things!

1. He loved you before He even knew you.

Amelia's medical record and photos haven't been updated since she was four months old (almost a year to-the-day ago) and yet we love her with a passion I can't even explain. There is so much that we don't know about her (we quite literally know next-to-nothing), yet our hearts ache for her. It doesn't matter what we find out when we finally meet her; what she is like, what medical issues she may have, she is OURS and we are in love!

Let that sink in ..... He loves you - all of you <3.  Because you're YOU; not because of anything you do or don't do, not because of the way that you look, not because of your IQ, not because of what you are or aren't capable of but just because you are.

2. He knows what is best for you, even if you don't know it ... yet.

We have read many stories about children in institutions being terribly mistreated, tied to their beds or to toilets, terrible abuse, malnutrition, lice and untreated parasites, babies left in their cribs day in and day out, the list goes on and on, and children die ... often. We see posts all the time of children who were listed and pass away, there was even a disclaimer in our application that we could do all of this and our child could pass away before we even get there, there just isn't care available for children with special needs. Families have shared with us that their children came home to the United States and don't even cry! They have cried so much without a response that they've stopped crying, even in response to pain (one story a mom shared with me, her daughter's hand was slammed in a car door and absolutely no tears were shed)!! And despite all of that, when their adoptive parents arrive to get them, the children often don't want to leave! They don't know anything but the institution, it is familiar to them and, in many cases, they have never seen outside of the four walls that they are in.

Many countries require the young children to voice that they want to go with the adoptive parents before the parents are able to leave the country with them. We have seen quite a few prayer request posts of parents who have fallen in love with their child, fundraised to the extent that it consumed their lives (often alienating family and friends in the process), left their other children, and flew across the world to adopt their child, and then arriving to find that their child doesn't want to leave and begging us all to pray that their unwilling child will want them.

He loves you ... He has something amazing for you, sometimes you don't even know what you're missing. But it does take great faith, a step into the unknown. He waits patiently for you to say yes to Him.

3. He loves you even when you aren't ready to love Him back.

Even if the children do take the leap of faith to leave with their adoptive family, especially for older children, the process of learning to let the walls down and to let their parents in takes TIME - sometimes years. I read blog posts through tears about parents who have waited and waited and patiently loved their child (only to receive anger and resentment in return) and the joy that they feel when months (or years) later, they receive the smallest glimpse of affection from them in return. It truly is beautiful! It is a long and painful process - but the reward is GREAT!

He patiently waits for you, He loves you regardless of the return.

4. Adoption is COSTLY!

$35,000 ... half a year's wages, three new cars, five years worth of private school tuition, two years worth of mortgage payments ... no matter how you look at it, adoption COSTS! And it's probably the #1 reason that most people run the other way when someone brings it up! It is, very literally, our only obstacle and it is truly a scary one - it's the reason we never even considered it until now - especially when we have student loan debt and a car that is, quite literally, at the end of its life. But then we look into the eyes of that sweet little girl and we realize that we HAVE to try - her very life depends on someone doing it! And the awareness and support for individuals with special needs isn't yet there for adoption to come from within her country. Fundraising ideas consume our thoughts, our dreams, our Pinterest, every spare moment is spent crafting or trying to make something we can sell, our budgets have all been cut, all of our social media has become consumed with fundraisers and updates, we can tell that certain friends have started "avoiding" us (we don't blame them!), we have become "crazy" of sorts ... but we know that that little life depends on it! And it's in these moments that we realize that we would do anything for that one life. That one life, who we don't even "know," who may or may not even like us,  who may or may not be what others would find "pretty or smart or athletic or _____," who may never reciprocate our love, who costs so much ... but who is far more than worth it.

It is such a small picture of what He did for you - He gave EVERYTHING for your one life and it COST Him, oh did it cost! He was bruised, He was spit on, He was despised, He was tortured, He gave His very life but He never once questioned whether or not you were worth it!

"I'll remind myself

Of all that You've done

And the life I have

Because of Your son

Love came DOWN and rescued me

Love came down and set me free

I am Yours

I am forever Yours

Mountains high or valley low

I sing out and remind my soul

I am Yours

I am forever Yours"

-Kari Jobe

I can NOT wait to hold that little girl in my arms <3. 

Adoption Update:

We have already acquired all of our documents, completed our home study, and completed all of our required adoption education.  We also have gone through all of the steps to gain approval from the Ministry in Poland to adopt Amelia as long as the rest of the process goes as planned. We submitted our i800a for USCIS (Immigration / Homeland Security) approval last week, this is the longest part of the process and is expected to take about 50 days.  Simultaneously, we are compiling our dossier to send to Poland. It is almost complete and ready to send, we are just waiting on a couple of documents to come back. Once we have everything, we will make a trip to Olympia to have everything apostilled and then we have to submit it to our agency with a $10,000 check and they will send it to Poland to be translated and reviewed.  We expect this entire process will be completed during the time that we are waiting for our approval from USCIS so it *should* not delay us at all. Once we have that approval, we will just be waiting for our court date in Poland. Our agency expects us to travel at the end of May or in June.

We started a $10K in 10 days campaign on Facebook to raise the money needed in order to submit the dossier. We began on April 1 with a goal of submitting our dossier on my birthday, April 10 [I can't imagine a better birthday present!!! ... well maybe other than holding her in my arms ;)]. It doesn't look like we will quite be able to make that goal but we are CLOSE and so many have been so very generous.

After this next $10K is paid, we will have about $20K left to raise. We had a very successful photoshoot fundraiser, we are making/selling headbands, we have a parent's night out coming up on Saturday, I have done a couple of graphic design jobs, we have ordered supplies to make some beautiful necklaces (info to come soon!), we have a silent auction and lunch coming up on 4/25, we are looking at dates for a potential garage sale and/or car wash, and I'm sure we will keep coming up with more until we reach our goal [because someone's life depends on it!]! To date, we have $3,306 in our FSP (http://reecesrainbow.org/89467/sponsorhowell-3) and $275 cash on hand and we have already spent just under $5,000 of our own money. God IS faithful, we took a leap committing to Amelia with only two months to come up with $35,000 and no way of knowing how He was going to provide us with the necessary finances and it is HAPPENING! Thank you for so many of you who have been our answer to prayer <3. 

Please continue to cover us and this process in prayer - Amelia desperately needs someone to come and rescue her and we don't want her waiting one day longer than necessary!!!  I'm already praying over our trip - I don't know HOW we are going to leave Poland knowing there are still kids there who desperately need someone to come for them. I'm truly terrified of what we might find and I know my heart is going to break, it already is so burdened for these kids.

Claire Update:

I know you've been waiting way too long for a Claire update ....

Claire is doing AMAZING!  She is rocking therapy and she is such a joy! She has had ZERO new medical issues other than that she is still fighting the cold - 7 weeks and going strong on that one :-/. I feel like quite the zombie but we will take it, so so so much to be thankful for with this little one!

The only real challenge we have right now is that she's eating typical volumes for a 9 month old but she's still having to use the preemie bottle nipple so feedings take a looooooong time and restrict our day a bit but it's such a minor thing that we can't even complain! 

In physical therapy she is working on being on her hands/knees, reaching, core stability, putting weight through her legs, and holding things with BOTH hands (for some reason she does NOT like this). We even tried climbing stairs last week (she wasn't a fan!!).

In speech therapy (feeding), we are working on liquids and pureés. Our newest skill that we started working on last week is eating liquids in a seated position (still with a preemie nipple). Up until now, she has only been able to eat in a "side-lying" position. We get to try "chewing" for the first time next week! I am also hoping that she learns to hold her own bottle soon!!!

Here are some therapy pictures from this week:

Skill: Reaching!

Skill: Sitting and reaching

Skill: Balance while sitting and reaching

Skill: Holding things with BOTH hands

Her star on the wall! [Decorated by big sister, Anna]

And some more pictures just for fun!:

Claire modeling one of the headbands that we made as a fundraiser

Claire and her siblings with their Easter baskets

Friends, we have never been more touched by all of the love, support, kind words, and generosity.  THANK YOU for being our Cheerleaders and for taking the time to read about our journey <3.  Have a fantastic week!  Fight the good fight, we are cheering YOU on as well!!!