It Came....

....we got another call today. The one that starts, "Hey, Elisabeth....he was born this morning and his birthfamily has chosen to find a family for him.". That makes about 8-10 calls/emails since last August. Did you hear me?!! 8-10 calls in a year!! People, there are children waiting here in the US to be adopted. We do not care whether a child is an infant or not, but each one of these calls has been about a newborn. So, don't tell me you don't want to travel, it's too expensive or there are no babies. They are here. Travel is just around the corner. Fees are drastically reduced in an effort to find forever families, and the Body of Christ will help support your efforts!

PLEASE, pray about adoption! There are so many children in desperate need of families. Children with special needs are even less likely to be placed. I know that every family cannot commit to the unknowns that come along with Down Syndrome. I get that. But, there are many different special needs that lead a birthfamily to adoption- cerebral palsy, spina bifida, sickle cell, HIV, Trisomy 13, FAS, drug exposure, stroke in utero, Prader Willi Syndrome, hydrocephalus. Too often, children with these diagnosis enter into state care because noone is willing to step up and say "YES!". Many times, infants with more severe cases are taken to a nursing home. A nursing home....an infant! Through Christ and with the right education and support, adoptive families of special needs children can grow and THRIVE.

Will it be easy? Should it be? Did Christ ever say it would? It's not about things being hard. Or being too tired- go to bed an hour earlier. Or not having enough money- do you have a car or an iPhone? (Don't Americans make more per year than 90%+ of the rest of the world?) Or your house not being big enough- have you looked at the homes in Haiti or Uganda? It's about giving life and love to another human being that will die unwanted if we don't. Your life will be full of laughs and tears, triumph and heartache, milestones met and others passed by. You will cry and wonder. You will smile and embrace. Say YES!!


My sister and her husband began Caglewood in 2001. Take a peak and just see at the LIFE people with special needs exude.



In Him,
E

The Flood

The Flood of Grief. I am shocked when it comes. Most days and weeks I don't see any sign of it....and then the waves crash down on me taking my breath away.

This picture was taken almost 9 months ago. In so many ways it seems as though it's been an eternity, but at the same time it feels like yesterday. I remember every detail of that place. I walk those halls in my dreams.

Just today I spent some time working at our church consignment sale. Ladies (and men) dashing here and there to stock up on deals for their little ones. In the flurry of checking out my hundred and twenty second customer of the day, I was asked about our trip. And the flood came. Why today? No tears were shed in the chaos as I fought them with every part of me (praise the Lord!) but my heart began beating so rapidly. I felt that familiar drop that happens when the waves are coming. And inside, I broke into a thousand pieces again.

Our angel. Actually, she is no longer "ours"- or was she ever, really? She is home with her forever family. The exact place God intended her to be all along. And that is what I rest in. She is safe from harm and thriving in her parents' loving arms. To say I'm not sad would be a lie. When the flood comes, I feel like a failure. I feel like I failed her when she needed me the most even though God spoke very clearly to us that we were not "the ones". I wanted to be the one to love and nurture that little heart. I wanted to be the one to teach her to walk. I wanted to be the one to pick her up and rock her when she fell down.

God's plan for me is not turning out like I had hoped. I had it all planned out and He changed things! But, PRAISE GOD for this past year and a half! And PRAISE GOD that His ways are not my own!! I PRAISE HIM for the journey. It has been the hardest year of my life...and I PRAISE HIM!!

6 He alone is my rock and my salvation;

He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.

7 My salvation and my honor depend on God;

he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your hearts to him,for God is our refuge. Selah

Psalm 62: 6-8

Grief stinks. The floods will come, yet I rest in knowing that one day they will subside. For now, I pray for strength and wisdom to be the absolute best mom I can to my 4 sweet ones and for the continued peace I find only through Him.
Amazed by HIS grace,
E

The Spirit of Adoption

The Bible is clear. In short TAKE CARE OF ORPHANS. I say it over and over- not everyone is called to adopt but everyone is called to CARE for orphans. Pray. Support a family who is adopting. Etc, etc, etc.

I just finished "The Spirit of Adoption" by Randy and Kelsey Bohlender. Get it. Read it. I have marked so many pages that whacked me in the head that I've just decided to read it again and keep my highlighter on my nightstand while doing so. The Bohlenders are living, breathing disciples who have joined forces with Christ to put orphans in families.

The book not only talks about adoption, but speaks clearly about raising children in God's word and abortion.

Abortion- My heart is strong and I do not waiver on this one, I AM PRO LIFE. No 2 ways about it. Can you be pro life without being pro adoption? How can you be pro life but expect others to take care of the children? 4,500 babies are aborted every day. 4500!! I want abortion to end, but if it did who would take care of the 4,500 who every day die a painful death? Are there 4,500 families EVERY DAY who will step up to the plate to care for these unloved?! Have you ever thought about it that way?

Exact quote from "The Spirit of Adoption"-
"What would happen if abortion ended in America? What would happen to those 4,500 babies that would be born each day rather than aborted? Would they be wanted? Would the Church step up to the task of caring for the orphan, the cast off ones, the unwanted? The harder question was would we?"

I pray that the answer is "yes!!". And I pray that the Lord will use us again and again and again. Amen.
In Him,
E

Gotcha

One year ago today we received a treasure. As we sat in a Florida hotel room listening to him sleep, we had no idea the impact he would have on our lives. Thank you, Lord, for this most precious gift.

Happy Gotcha Day, sweet Charlie!!

In Him,

E

Heading "home" (our hotel for the next 2 weeks) from the adoption agency. Look- he even had the cheeks then!

And that little chin- oh my!

Milk?

Okay, now to take a stab at the sacred cow (ha ha ha!!!). Charlie will officially be off formula in about 1.2 days. The "experts", although I've never talked with them personally, say that babies should have whole milk from age 1-2, right? When the girls were young, I never questioned this, but now I am a rebel. What is the reason? I know, I know. It has something to do with developing the brain....but really? Does it? We don't drink milk around here. I do have it in the fridge for cooking and our youngest daughter likes to drink it occasionally, but it's not something I make my children drink daily. Hubby even can't eat chili without it. (And you think I'm strange, honey?!!)

It all just doesn't make sense to me. We are the only species that drinks another specie's milk. And beyond infant hood! Please, don't worry. We get plenty of calcium through beans, greens and other dairy items.

And I'm not coming down on those of you who drink milk. If you love it, go for it. Drink it til the cows come home! (ha ha ha- how CHEESY can I get tonight?!)

What are our options? Markana- rice milk. JJ- good 'old water. Anyone else? Your reasoning? Am I causing GREAT HARM in not giving Charlie whole milk for this next year?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.
In Him,
E

Celebration!

What a day for celebration! The party was suppose to be at a local park- picnic style, red/white checked, horseshoes, lemonade....and ants. It rained. So, the party was here at home and perfect. Sharing such a special day with so many dear to us was awesome.

Charlie wasn't quite sure about the whole cupcake thing. He's never had anything like it.

The cupcake faceoff. I wonder if he was thinking I'd gone off the deep end giving him such a sugar filled goodie. After just a few licks, he lay his head down and just stared at it. Then he looked up at everyone and started crying...wanting nothing more to do with this craziness.

This boy loves to read. A new book was a perfect gift.

These 2 pictures crack me up. Picture #1 with the yellow hat- the hat was lovingly given to C today by our youngest daughter. She loves this hat and plays with it often with her dolls. Yesterday I found her sneaking around wrapping a "special gift" for Charlie. She later told me that she knows he doesn't have a winter hat, so she thought this would definitely keep his head warm when the weather turns cooler. How sweet....and Hilarious!! Our oldest said, "That is just horrible!". Too funny. Poor boy.

And this one- I know he was excited, but I'm not sure where in the world his neck went!

WE LOVE YOU, sweet boy! Happy Birthday!

In Him,

E

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

I praise you because

I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Psalm 139:14

Happy Birthday, sweet angel boy!

Thank you, Lord, for entrusting us with

such a treasure!

In Him,

E

Spirit of Adoption

I've ordered "The Spirit of Adoption" by Randy & Kelsey Bohlender, and I'm eagering awaiting it's arrival. Here's a quote from the book (thank you for sharing His Hands His Feet!).

"As we all wait for that great day, adoption in the natural is an act of Kingdom prophecy. With each movement of the heart, faithfully committing to give a child a home, a family and a future, we prophesy what God has done for us. Adoption shouts life, love, eternity, and the Kingdom of God. It speaks louder than protest signs or legislation. It shouts to the world, "We want the babies!" The selfless acts of granting life and love to a child communicates even to the principalities and powers of this present age, displaying the manifold wisdom of God in mirroring His love and redemptive purposes for humanity. It's what Christ died for: to give us a new life, a new name and an eternal glory."

I'll let you know what I think the moment I get my hands on it- I'm sure it won't take me very long to read.:) I have a feeling it's going to be life changing.
In Him,
E

Some of our favorite things...

While I never felt the need to tell the world about every single milestone that our girls reached, having a child with special needs seems to be different. I don't know if it's just to brag or if I feel like I must prove his worth to all the naysayers.


Granted, I have a blog now. I don't even know if blogs existed 9 years ago. And I realize that I have several different types of blog readers. Two of those types share things that are close to my heart.


1. I know there are several families who read my blog that are praying fervently about adopting an angel with a little something extra. I LOVE ADOPTION!! I pray that the Lord blesses us again and again and again through the miracle of adoption. These families come to places such as this tiny piece of blogland to "watch" how a family lives with the "extras"- therapies, delays, doctor visits. They also come to gain strength as they draw closer to making that decision. JOY lives here! I pray that each are able to witness the love our family has for a certain little boy and how he has changed our life.


2. The second group- Momma's who have little ones with Down Syndrome tend to stick together. We love sharing tricks of the trade- what works and what doesn't, setbacks and milestones, encouragement and tears. And prayers. I love to share the truths about where we are in our journey with Downs.


And while this blog is a blog about our life, I truly hope the Lord will use me especially to speak to these two groups. So, I love my girls with every thing I have and we rejoiced (and continue to rejoice) together at each milestone, but you will hear me shouting from the rooftops (over and over) when Charlie makes those same gains.




As promised, I want to share some of our faves. I try to be creative and use what we have when we see a need. Therapy type items are no different.




The little blue stool. We talked about making one for him for his birthday- just before I walked past the bathroom closet and noticed this beauty. Perfect height for sitting (and standing!!) or sitting something on to grab. It's also perfect to practice sitting on knees beside. This baby is from IKEA. I just found them on their website- here. Only $4!! A steal!




I also love it because it is somewhat curved allowing C to place his legs in that curve. And look at the nonslip dots on top so he can't slide off. Perfect! Not to mention I don't see any way it could tip over- it's base is wider than it's top.




Follow Me Fred (sitting atop the stool) was loaned to us by C's therapist coordinator (actually her grandchildren:). He crawls just far enough (18-24 inches) to encourage C to want to follow. I believe she bought Fred at Walmart for around $14.

And Charlie has sisters. 3 of them to be exact, so many dress up/play girlie things have been reborn as therapy type toys. Take the sequin fabric for instance. Perfect for sewing something delightfully girlie, but also perfect for peek-a-boo and feeling the different crazy texture. C loves this one. The metal container holding the sequin fabric was actually a hot chocolate canister on it's way to the recycle bin when I claimed it. It makes a fabulous sound (LOUD NOISE!) when banged and even has a top we can put on so C can take off. Think outside the box!

Yes, these are CDs. Plain old, boring CDs except they sure are shiny! Perfect for working on fine motor skills because they are terribly hard to pick up. Did I mention they were shiny?! These are the exact things that enticed C to pivot around and around.

The green, rubber, spiky bracelet. He loves it! Like, crazy loves it! Now that he has teeth we have to stand guard while he plays with this one, but it is so perfect for (again) texture play. It's also great to put on C's arm and let him practice getting off. I picked this one up at Michael's for $2.

Toothbrushes. One day, a speech therapist told me to "get in his mouth every day". Now, Charlie really doesn't have any texture issues with his mouth nor any feeding issues. Is it because we're always "in his mouth"? Who knows, but we started early (about 3 months) and it's just something we do daily. He loves for us to turn on the Tigger one and just let him play with it. Walmart $5.

Ribbons, ribbons, ribbons. Different textures and lengths. Cut them shortish, stick them in a ziploc bag and put them in the diaper bag. Great for keep little hands busy in church or a restaurant. Have I mentioned anything about texture?!:)

Make sure you spice up the colors and have different textures. See, I even cut a piece of that beloved sequin fabric. Cost- as much time as it took me to gather things from our fabric dresser.

And yes, you are seeing right. That is a popcorn bucket and cheap metal pan. Oh my heavens!! When we brought that popcorn bucket home last week from my Mom's, you would have thought Charlie had died and gone to heaven. He is in love. Putting things in and out. Squishing and tossing. Sisters putting it on his head.

And the metal pan. Cheap (free in our case)!! See how dented it is. It makes a great drum and sounds really cool when you put different items in it to shake. Another love.

Textured balls. These are everywhere. Get some. Different shapes, colors and textures. Markana even gave C a purple one shaped like a football (and won from the "Claw" machine!). We have been given all of ours, but I know they are inexpensive.

Instruments. We have a large bag of these that we use every single day (many aren't pictured). And our PT loves them. So many different sounds and perfect for fine motor work. Look at those tiny cymbals. And the tambourine/drum with beads inside. We were blessed with all of these from our dear friend's, the Cox family. Thank you Cox family!!

The big bells- just Christmas bells that I tied some short ribbon to. The ribbon is long enough for C to hold on to and shake. The bells aren't flimsy and thin, but a heavier, nice weight.

One other thing that I forgot to take a picture of- small plastic cups (sets of 3 at the $1 store) and miniature water bombs. You know, those balls that kids squeeze, put under water, then release to absorb the water? Those are perfect to put inside cups and encourage taking out and putting back in. Also, we turn the cups upside down with a ball underneath. You can really use anything sort of small (but not too small for little mouths) in place of the water bombs if drool filled bombs gross you out.:)

So, there you have it. Just a snippet of what we use. DON'T spend a ton of $$$!! DON'T go to sites with the words "therapy" attached- they will always charge you significantly more than you need to be paying. And you can probably find what you need somewhere else anyway. If not, email me and we'll come up with something together.

In Him,

E

HE STANDS!!

Today he went from THIS... ...to THIS!!

No help. Nothing to hold on to- just using those cubby little legs. Me hiding behind the sofa because I could see what was about to happen. Too bad my Nikon is still out of commission. I could have taken about 28 pictures in the time it took me to take this one. But still- HE DID IT! Right before he fell on his face. Go Buddy!

Tomorrow, I will post about some of our very favorite toys/tools we've found or come up with for Charlie- including the little stool he's resting his tooshie on and "Follow Me Fred" who is collapsed on the floor and looks as if he's been followed one too many times.

In Him,

E

More "Sings of Faith"

More information on this sign below. I just wanted to show you just how large the signs are- this one 36 inches. And each are 9 inches tall. P.S. I suppose I should have crammed that plastic bag back into the drawer before taking pictures. Oh well. Just keeping it real.

I probably should have explained a bit about these signs for new readers. Instead of me going into great detail, please read here. Know, though, that I am only making signs with black as a background color now. And regardless of how cool I thought it would look to have the signs photographed outside, I now realize that the colors look so much better indoors. Look at the difference!! Ugh! I may retake all previously posted sign pics tomorrow. Nothing but time, right?!!!!

Also, the "One Dollar Adoption Challenge" raised $416!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for hearing God's call and joining with us in the Challenge. It's amazing how $1 can truly change a life. You guys are awesome! Thank you for believing, for spreading the word and for PRAYING!

"welcome" $50

36inches

**SOLD**

"serve" $40

24 1/2 inches
**SOLD**

In Him,

E

Signs of Faith- to bring home another little one

"love wins"- $50 **SOLD**

inches

Sorry I've been missing....this is what I've been up to. Signs. Signs. And more signs. I know, the picture quality is poor. My beloved Nikon lens isn't working....again. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that my leg accidentally ran into it while it was hanging from a chair. Or something like that.:)

All of these are ready to ship, and the prices include shipping. Feel free to email me (nogreatergiftmom@yahoo.com) with any questions. If you are ready to order, drop me an email and I'll mark the sign "SOLD". I will be shipping early next week- probably Tuesday. We live 14 miles from town, so I don't run back and forth every day.

Custom orders are still being taken, but please know that turn around time is about 2 weeks. If you need a sign sooner, email me and we'll try to work something out.

I will also be posting a few more tonight.

Each sign comes wrapped with a ribbon and a card with a coinciding verse. I can also include a gift tag if the sign is a surprise for someone special. This was an extra special gift for a new little one.

On the back you will find a label attached with our family information.

"shine" $40

24 1/2 inches

These colors are SO vibrant- I wish they showed up better.:(

"kneel" $40

24 inches

purples and greens

"i am" "$30"

17 inches

"miracle" $45

25 inches

again, very vibrant colors!

"believe" $45
32 inches

Yes, I know I forgot to dot the "i"- it will be fixed before shipped.

"dream" $40

28 1/2 inches

I have no idea what is going on with this blog, but I can't enter some sign info beside the correct picture. Price and dimension information as follows-

"eat" $30- 19 1/2 inches

"sit" $30-17 1/2 inches

"love" $30-20 inches **SOLD**

In Him,

E