Six more to yell for!

Keith used to wait for someone to love him...

Keith before leaving the orphanage, 5 years old,  and 12 pounds

'But now, after just about 7 weeks home, this is our 5 year old Keith -- up to 21 pounds, full cheeks, crawling, sitting up on his own, standing if he holds on to something, laughing, loving, full of life and spunk, beautiful!!' (follow the Unroe's story at http://godsrainbowsinourlives.blogspot.com/)

What a difference that love made!  Now please consider the little ones that are still waiting in Gemma's orphanage...

 Harvey DOB: 2009

Diagnosis: Congenital anomaly of the central nervous system; Prosencephaly; Microcephalus; Symptomatic epilepsy; Spastic quadric paresis; Facial dismorphism
Harvey has a lot of complex medical needs. He’s currently tube fed to receive nutrition. Details on his medical condition and development are coming soon.

Theodore DOB: 2002

Diagnosis: spastic diplegia cerebral palsy (only effects lower body), severe malnutrition, lagging behind in all aspects of development.
Theodore has spent his life in an orphanage where he’s received very little care for his physical, mental or emotional needs. He’s recently been hospitalized several times to address some of his medical needs.
Theodore is 10 years old. He has CP and due to a lack of therapy, he does currently have contractures in some of his joints. Though he is 10 years old, he currently only weighs 36 pounds. His medical reports indicates that he can stand, feed himself with a spoon, makes sounds but isn’t yet talking, understands everything that is said to him, engages adults appropriately (shakes hands) and plays with toys. He’s described as a very happy little boy.
Additional photos are available for interested families.

Chad DOB: 2003

Diagnosis: delays in all aspects of development
Chad has lived his entire life in an orphanage where he has received very little medical care, therapy,education or intervention to help him to learn and grow. He’s very small for his age and delayed in all aspects of his development. In June 2012, he tested positive for TB and has been taking medication to treat it.
Additional photos and a video are available.

Kramer DOB: 2004

Diagnosis: Cerebral Palsy
Kramer has lived his entire life in an orphanage where he has received very little medical care, therapy, interventions or attention. As a result, he’s significantly delayed in all aspects of his development. He is extremely small for his age, weighing just 25 pounds at 8 years old. In June 2012, he was hospitalized for evaluation and orthopedic medical intervention. A tenotomy was performed in the pelvic area to assist in his ability to better use his legs.
Kramer needs a family willing to provide the physical therapy and other medical/developmental care that he needs in order to reach his full potential. He’s never been given the opportunity to learn or do anything other than lie in a crib all day.
Additional photos of Kramer are available.

Garnet DOB: 2002

Diagnosis: Cerebral Palsy- quadriplegic
Garnet is 10 years old. She has spent her entire life in a crib. She can move her head and her upper body some. She is aware of everything going on around her and will follow activities with her eyes/head. She turns her head to look when people are talking. She can hold onto toys when they are given to her. She smiles at people when they talk to her and responds positively to touch.
She eats blended food from a bottle, though she is learning to eat from a spoon.
Additional photos and videos from August 2012 of Garnet are available.

UPDATE: Penny has a family!! You can read their story at http://www.zingermama.blogspot.com/
Penny is 11 years old.  She weighs 21 lbs!  She also has spent her life in the crib and she has cerebral palsy.  She has been neglected and forgotten but still smiles for the camera!  There are additional pictures and a video of her if you contact Shelley Bedford at shele337@gmail.com with interest in making her your little one.

All of these children need families to RUN for them. Their files will be going back to their country in days! Penny's file has already returned. That means that other than by word-of-mouth, no one is advocating for them. We don't want their country to think that are truly unwanted! Pray, Share, Donate, Adopt!

While We are Waiting...

Well, we are waiting on the State department now to apostille our FBI clearances.  That is the last item for our dossier.  Then away it will go.  After they arrive in Bulgaria, it will take at least 5 weeks to hear about  a travel date. I am not sure how far in advance travel dates are offered, so it maybe into the new year before we travel.  The time frame that we are thinking she will be home keeps slipping.  I am trying to remain without expectations, and then be grateful for the time God chooses to make it happen.

In the meantime, we are fundraising through several small companies or individuals that offered to help.

Susan Godfrey is doing an online tupperware fundraiser for us through October 5th.
http://www.facebook.com/events/144866132325452/

Wild Olive Tees has chosen us to be a featured family for their adoption fundraising program.  Wild Olive Tees is an online store for t-shirts for women and children.  The t-shirts all have beautiful graphics along with  an inspiring bible verse.  We need to sell 15 t-shirts to qualify for the fundraising program.  Starting with the 15th t-shirt sold $7.50 will be donated to Gemma's adoption fund.  The t-shirts are such a nice way to express faith that we will just do what we can, and if we make some money to cover some costs, all the better!

Our family code for ordering is BROWN927.

This code  MUST be used when checking out for it to benefit Gemma's adoption! During the checkout process, there will be a coupon code option under the shopping cart. Click on that box and it will open the coupon code field up in the left hand corner. That is where the code is applied.  This code will NOT provide a discount on the Adoption fundraiser Tees, it will be used solely to help track sales for our Fundraising efforts.