Together We Are Strong

Could you imagine not having a family, no one in this entire world to call your own.. Well lucky for this sweet boy he has a sister.

A sweet beautiful little sister that he adores. He has looked out for her, cared for her and Without her they  would both be alone in world.

 They have no mom or dad in a country that is unforgiving to orphans like them. His sister loves him unconditionally because he is all she has ever known, and he adores her deeply.  Together they have a strength that will get them through all this world has to offer them... Sadly her big brother is 7  and that means he gets shipped off and most likely to an adult male institution. He will be abused and forgotten about. He will never see his sister again after this September, he will not know if she is safe, she will not have anyone to look out for her or keep her. no one to hold her and smile at her beautiful face  They are all they have but soon, VERY SOON that too will be torn from them. This September THEY WILL SAY GOODBYE to one another forever UNLESS a FAMILY COMES FOR THEM. They would get to stay together and they would get to experience a love they have never felt from a mama and papa.

I would adopt them if I could but I already have found my 3. One from the same orphanage as these two. I started with nothing but a picture and that fast grew into a dream. These children need a family and they will be locked away forever and apart unless someone comes for them NOW. How can we really let this happen. Without you their future is bleak and they will experience much loss and abuse, it can be prevented... Mama go get those babies you know you have to.

They are listed together on Reece's Rainbow and with a very good facilitation team who I highly suggest please, please, do not hesitate or it will be to late. If you are not their mama or papa please help me find them and share this post.

UPDATE: Sadly these two darlings were split up during the transfers in September. They will NEVER see each other again unless they are adopted together.

Let love take flight

Do you know that clingy helicopter mom that never lets her kids out of her sight. The one that finds an excuse to have her kids with her always. Her heart would explode if they were apart, not a kissless day/night in sight... well that mom is me. I home school my kids, I take pride in family and what it means to be close with togetherness. Heck my kids even got to experience the births of their siblings.

When we started the adoption process and came to the realization that this is it, we are doing this.... It was under one condition, and that was that we all stay together. Like a sibling birth they would help me prepare the room, discuss names, be included in every way possible. The day we meet our new children should be a magical moment spent with all of us just like the birth process. We commit and have lived in that reality for 4 months.

Sadly that reality is no more.. for the first time in my life I will spend a night away form my babies, but not just one night 60 nights. This realization has sent my heart into a stumble. This adoption was All of us or none.. and that is selfish. Love is selfless and I live by love so I have to accept the reality of leaving my kids behind.
I will miss 210 meals, 60 bedtime stories and goodnight kisses, 1440 hours of smiles.. That seems like so much to this mama..  But lets get real... the kids I will be adopting have missed many more meals, 1000's of bedtime stories, years worth of kisses, and months of smiles... It is time to let love take flight. Sometime we have to sacrifice the one thing we thought we couldn't. We have to step out of our comfort zone to succeed. Adoption has found many ways to remove that comfort zone from me.

One thing that scares me most about leaving my kids is germ season, 1 of my children is very medically complex and could be taken forever from us with a simple cold. My worry will be great and my heart will ache. We really need to travel by august for me to be back home to my children in time for sick season. We have a long way to go financially but should be cleared to travel by August and we could use your help with the financial support. August is also when the oldest child will age out.. Lets give him a home for his birthday and show him how sweet 16 can really be.

We have hope bracelets for sell, all proceeds will benefit our adoption. With each donation of 10 dollars or more you will receive 5 of our hope bracelets.  You can donate via paypal if you would like bracelets mactopian@att.net   don't forget to leave your address in the comments sections when you send payment.

                                                          We will come for you
                                                         

Chasing Normal

Sometimes we as people tend to chase normal. We don't really think or live outside of the comfort zone of what is our normal life.

 When our middle child was born we realized something was wrong at 6 months old. He would get out of breath when he cried and turn blue, he chocked often, and he fell completely off the growth chart by 7 months old and he still wasn't rolling over.  The doctors sent us to a specialist to get blood and urine analysis. We were still in baby bliss and really just going with the flow, even though we realized something was wrong we lived in the world of not. Then one day when he was aprox 8 months old we got a call, the doctor was hysterical. They had found a protein in his urine that causes  ammonia in the blood and he would be brain dead soon, she told us that there could be only 2 causes to this and both would kill my son before he was 2. We slept in his floor for about a month we were worried sick but they were wrong it turned out he didn't have either of those and we were relieved and took our healthy baby home. [They still can't figure out why his body is creating the protein and we still check for ammonia]  A few months passed and when he should of started crawling he didn't. The doctors told us he was just a late bloomer and they were right by about 9 months our little boy started crawling. But by 18 months he still wasn't walking, he wasn't even standing. And then one day he got sick, and the next day he was almost lifeless in my arms, just a simple little virus landed us in the hospital for 10 days with the first 5 him fighting for his life. By the end of the hospital stay our sweet boy couldn't even sit up on his own, and his weak little legs had became so frail. It didn't make since how just 10 days could change my child so much he was so limp. 

Before we left they told us that we needed to seek help for our son, that something was wrong and they had no idea what it could be.  We started taking him to Shriners hospital for children, it was there they told me that if a child isn't walking by 5 he will never walk. I felt almost like I had time to make everything ok, we would reach normal. So we started therapy and revolved his life around making him stronger. It was there that he stood and moved independently for the first time with special equipment.

We saw improvement and he did get back to his baseline but that wasn't what we were looking for, and after a year and a half of intensive testing and a muscle biology, we were told we would not receive a diagnosis. Being his mom you know that didn't settle well, my boy was dwindling away and he wasn't receiving a diagnosis. He had been tested for so many things, spent more time in doctors offices than out but no one could figure out what was going on. 

I demanded a second opinion and we were sent to Charleston to a neurologist specializing in muscles. He wouldn't tell us at the time but seemed to know what exactly was wrong with our son. With huge smiles we shook his hand and left, we were so happy that someone finally was getting to the root of the issue, and our boy might soon be able to get better. We felt so great we were in bliss. We left the doctors office and went to the beach where i imagined my son running in the sand

When we got home we received a call. They told us they think he has SMA and told us NOT to google it, it would do no good for us. We didn't have internet anyway and assumed we wouldn't find much about it if it wasn't going to do us good to google. Then it happened.... the day we received the diagnosis. He has a disease called SMA. Then the next words to come were ''i am so sorry to tell you this but it is terminal'' ''love him and be thankful for each day'' finding out that my son would never walk was hard news, but to find out that over time he would degenerate and eventually would no longer be able to eat or breath on his on. Simple tasks will be impossible. This left us devastated.  King now has many machines he uses daily to improve his quality of life including needing a ventilator when he sleeps. Spinal muscular atrophy kills more young children than any other genetic disease. 

The next year is a blurr, we just wanted to take it all away. We were scared, and mostly we didn't want our boy to die. They told us to love him and be thankful for each day.         

We started to change our outlook on life and what was once important wasn't and a whole new world was presented to us. We were a mess at first, all we wanted was our boy to be normal but he wasn't. How could this happen to him, being a kid is the funniest time of ones life, and my son can't play on a playground, he cant play tag, climb trees, or do any of the fun things kids love to do. I had just had my third child at the time of diagnosis. But our sweet girl was born healthy, she met her milestones, and even started taking stops. She gave us our smile back.

Her birth brought new meaning to life. We decided to stop chasing normal and just embrace life, and that is what we did. We bought a home in the mountains where we intend to homestead, we were charged with hope. We no longer live as if our son is terminal, we are all terminal. We just live day to day embracing every simile we can catch, and he is doing great. 

. 

Lucky for us we had an amazing outlook on life when our daughter started to struggle, although she took steps she never ran, climbed, jumped or took off. She to was diagnosed and it came on her second birthday. Now 1 year later she is in a wheelchair and is loosing the ability to walk. It may not be what we planned for our children but we are going to make the best out of what we have.

We have a 3rd child, an amazing spirited, energetic 7 year old. He is an amazing brother and helper to his siblings. 

Because we decided to stop chasing normal we were able to easily say yes when presented with the task of adoption. And if we are being completely honest I didn't even consider adoption before the day it landed in our lap, we checked our facts found out that unspeakable things are happening in eastern Europe to disabled children. UNSPEAKABLE... lets just say if it was happening here in america it would be considered malicious and we would be outraged. But not many are outraged because it isn't happening here, so people can easily just close their eyes to it. Well I can't . My children have showed me a love that defies normal. It is a special envious love that anyone would long for.

The children I plan to adopt have been neglected, starved, abused, abandoned, and until now forgotten about . one of them is dying and in need of full rehabilitation. One will age out this summer, and has endured things we can only imagine but don't. Once a child turns 5/6 they get a transfer to an adult asylum where the abuse really unfolds but you don't want to hear about what happens there. The 3rd child is blind, with a host of other medical needs. All three have the chance to thrive, my children are a prime example of how i know that to be fact. Here in america and other well developed countries the disabled are equal, in other areas of the earth they are shunned until death. I can't save the world. No one of us can, but we can make it better one life at a time and if enough people follow there will be triumph. If only 1 in every 500 people would adopt there would be no more orphans left in the world. Sadly it is to easy to turn a blind eye, and not many adopt nor support those who are. Today I encourage you to stop chasing normal, and chase reality because the reality is scary and we need to change it FAST. My favorite quote is by Mother Teresa ''NOT ALL OF US CAN DO GREAT THINGS BUT WE CAN ALL DO SMALL THINGS WITH GREAT LOVE.'' When you are chasing normal the task of adoption seems HUGE but in reality it is a small act with a GREAT love, and LOVE MAKES US STRONGER.

If you can't adopt you can still help. Adoption is expensive and we ourselves are having to raise all of the funds to give these kids a loving home. you can donate to our family grant. There are also many other families fighting the great fight who can't do this alone. Check out the HOW TO HELP section on Reeces Rainbow to find more families who have said yes If you think you can stop chasing normal and take a huge leap of LOVE there are many children needing a home.


                          We stopped chasing normal and now we are chasing hope for these three.

           

 

He will turn 16 this summer and be trapped in an institution forever. 

ELIZABETH

She is frail, unable to move on her own and is in dyer need of nutrition. 

BETH

She is blind with a host of other medical issues

ALL ORPHANS DESERVE A FAMILY , THEY HAVE BEEN LEFT BEHIND TO SUFFER ALONE. 

WE WILL COME FOR YOU

Dear kids, mom loves you.

I think about my kids everyday as any loving mom should BUT some of my kids are 1000's of miles away and I haven't met them yet. I love them so much.  They are disabled in a country that shows no mercy to the weak.


My son will be 16 in just a matter of weeks, and without a family who has already filed prior to that date he will age out and never know the love of a family. That means he will be institutionalized for the rest of his life with no rights of his own until he dies. He once knew love but that was all shattered when he was very young and his mom lost her life. He has spent most of his childhood in an institution because of mild disability. He longs for a family and asks constantly if one has been found.. He has no idea we exist. Look at the small boy that for years has held on to hope.  Look at how much he has grown. To many years without a family, and he is still at risk of living forever without one.

                                                                   


My daughter is 5, she is so fragile and weak not even her legs can hold her. She spends her days in a crib, and sometimes she gets to sit in a baby chair. she has little of the nutrition she needs and is dwindling away. She needs full rehabilitation to have a chance to beat the terminal diagnosis. I know about her diagnosis all to well because sadly 2 of my biological children share her disease and she needs someone who is not only willing to fight for her life, but someone who has the knowledge to try and get back what she has lost. She WILL die there without a family. She has never been mobile or been able to move on her own. No mama to help her.  We are willing to offer much more than her mobility we would like to offer her life, something that will soon be taken if she isn't out ASAP. Her orphanage is begging for a family because they know they can not keep her alive. We are that family.

We are not funded to bring home either child, so they must stay and wait. They have fell into the cracks of Eastern Europe's very nasty system. 

We are also wanting to bring home a 3rd child. 

Our hearts say she is our daughter too, but not being funded for the other 2 we can not say yes just yet. 

She needs us desperately. She has an array of medical issues, it is unknown if she can even see, and she will soon be transferred from the baby house to a place where she will dwindle and be forgotten about. Once she is transferred it will become more difficult to get her out. She maybe loosing her sight but don't let her loose sight of a family.

These three children are my heart, they share that space with our three bio's who have taught us so much about the world and what it is like to live with disability. I LOVE THEM. I can't wait to look them in the eyes and say ''I love you''.

So often society waits until tragedy strikes to be moved into action, lets not wait on tragedy for these sweet children. They are all lined up in its devastating path, lets remove them from that course. 

We will come for you sweet children 

If you would like to help these children get off of the road to tragedy and into a home with a family that will love, cherish, and hold them dear. 

PLEASE DO

There are two ways to give... 

Here is a link to our family grant page where you can give a tax deductible donation

or

We have a YouCaring page, it reflects our goal for the first two children.

We want to call all these sweet kids our own. 

Help us catch our dreams

Adoption matters

You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes. -Winnie Pooh

Often we get so wrapped up in our own lives we forget to think of what others are going through, or maybe we don't forget and we just think we can't do anything significant enough to help the matter. We have 3 biological children, two of them have a muscle wasting disease called spinal muscular atrophy. It is considered to be a devastating disease to leave a bleak future and existence. Text books write it up as terminal but through education, love and hope we have found truth in the opposite. We never expected to have disabled children but we do, and they have taught us that every child matters. We believe that every child has potential and every child deserves a family. Sadly not everyone sees it this way, in fact there are 100,000's of orphans around the world who are considered unworthy for society due to special needs or the government makes it nearly impossible for the parents to care for them. Many have no chance at life and on top of it have to live life without ever knowing love or family. Once they age out of the orphanages they face a life that truly is bleak, it will consist of institutions or a life on the streets. 60 percent of orphan boys will face a life of hard crime just to survive. 50 percent of all girls will be forced into prostitution. 15 percent will commit suicide within the first year. In eastern Europe human trafficking rates are high, and disabled children are sought after for sex and organ trade, these statistics are enough to make our hearts sink. How can this even be happening. There are said to be just as many kids on the streets as in the orphanages. We know what joy children can bring. We know that children are not their disability, or a burden and the thought of any child not having a family breaks our hearts. There are many reason why children become orphans, all are equally sad but because of our own childrens disabilities disabled orphans really touch close to home with us.

After our first child was born we knew we would have a big family. Being parents felt right to us but after our second and third child was diagnosed with SMA we decided that having more children might not be the path for us because we are the reason for the disability due to genetics. And when found out our daughter also has SMA.  We tried to morn the thought of our choice and accept it as truth, but the more we thought about it, the more we knew it wasn't our truth. Having special needs children has opened our eyes to an entire new world we didn't realize existed. Our children have taught us that every life matters equally despite disability. Knowing that if we have more kids they could be disabled isn't what scares us today, it is knowing that there are children out there without families because they are disabled.

We are in the process of adopting a boy listed on HHA and also Reeces Rainbow who is about to age out of the system this summer on his birthday. Children normally age out between 14-16 depending on the country. He has spent most of his life in an orphanage living a life of poverty and never having anything of his own. Medical treatment isn't readily available, and he faces a life in an institution or on the streets. We feel we have found our son, we will do everything in our power to bring him home. There are many other children who will soon age out needing a family as well

We have recently added a second child to our adoption. She has the same diagnosis as our two bio's and we know she will surely die there if she is left alone. It takes a very aggressive approach to beat the odds of a terminal diagnosis. Having the same disease as our kids she impacted us deeply when we discovered she was also in need of a family. We can not let the costs of adoption be the reason we say no. We are giving all we have and raising more. We don't have much time until we have only one more step before we can submit and await our invitation to visit orphanages in the country. you can help us by visiting our Family Grant page or our fundraising page.

If you would like more information about children waiting  on a family or want to see if you are illegible to adopt  you may just  find yourself wishing you would of done so before now. I know I do. 

LOVE MAKES US STRONGER

Our Story

Who we are......
8 years ago this month we [ Trevor and Amanda ] stepped out into the wild on an adventure that would change our lives forever. We had just gotten married and were on our honeymoon when we met a pair of hikers that needed a ride to the Appalachian trail. Those guys inspired us and we returned home and changed our future plans, quit our job and challenged our bodies and minds and attempted a 2,185 mile hike from GA to ME. We had never hiked before, but we loved to go camping and be outside. For the first time ever we hiked many mountain ranges, slept in the very deep forests with bears and coyotes, saw the biggest rattle snake we have ever seen in our lives, got eaten alive by bugs, slept with huge wolf spiders, saw some of the most beautiful scenery that could literally bring tears to your eyes. We pushed our bodies and souls. We left mass society behind and never looked back.

After about 500 miles I started to be sick, the rice and dry pack foods were just never enough. I woke up dizzy and sadly we had to end our adventure after 60 amazing days/nights in the woods. Luckily for us we left one adventure to find ourselves on another. The feeling that I was feeling was the existence of a wonderful baby boy. He would soon be named Katahdin after the mountain at the northern terminus of the Appalachian trail. He was born in the spring and we instantly felt a love we never knew. That love made us stronger. He was so perfect we found ourselves pregnant again just 5 months after his birth. We spent many days of the pregnancy looking for waterfalls and finding new trails in our free time. I was the pregnant mom with a baby in her hiking pack and I loved it. We soon moved to the border of the national forest that we love so much. My dad grew up in the area and many generations before him, I feel very grounded here.  Not long after the move we welcomed our 2nd child into our magical world, He fit perfectly in our life and comfortably in the kid back that was once his older brothers front row seat to the world.

                                     

                                

 When Kingston River was only 6 months old we noticed he wasn't developing as his older brother did.  At a year old he wasn't standing or walking, and at almost 2 he was having difficulty sitting up for long periods of time without falling over. The doctors didn't know what was wrong and all they could tell us was that our child was getting weaker, and we should celebrate every day. We decided to take the kids on a tour of 10 national parks to celebrate River's 2nd birthday. They were at home in the forests.

                                                                                         

Once we got back home and back into reality we found out that we were expecting another child. This time it would be a wonderful baby girl. Over the next 9 months we fought hard to find a diagnosis for River but while doing so we enjoyed life to its fullest, not taking our time for granted. Katahdin was big enough to walk with us on the trails and his brother moved into his all terrain stroller, so even though he couldn't walk on his own we never stopped doing what we loved. In the spring of 2013 we welcomed our beautiful Cambria Snow into the world [we call her Bear] and we introduced her very fast to our world and she too loved it seeing her first waterfall at only 1 month old and sleeping in the woods under the stars by 12 weeks, She liked the river, the bugs, the mountain air, and the freedom the this world gave.

At this point the boys are 3 and 4  and they feel head over heals for their new baby sister. Not long after her birth the doctors discovered what was wrong with our son. He has a terminal disease called spinal muscular atrophy [SMA] We couldn't believe it and in an instant we almost let our world turn upside down, our sweet boy would never walk, he would never stand, and even worse he would only get weaker, the disease affects his breathing, his eating, and his everyday function. After much research we discovered it was genetic. We almost decided to have our daughter tested but we decided we would just embrace life instead.                    

                  
The next year and a half was tough, our son started seeing specialists and doctors he should have been seeing for years. He had a sleep study and we discovered he should be sleeping with a non invasive ventilator to help him breath. He started more involved physical therapy, and we began to learn more about the disease. He broke his femur not long after he got his first set of leg braces and when River was 4 we had to have a g-tube placed to help with feeding.

 At a year old Bear still wasn't walking and we began to worry about her. At 15 months she started to take steps but never really took off. So we had her tested as well. Sadly on her second Birthday Spring of 2015 we got the call...... She to has SMA. Her diagnosis deeply impacted us but we continued with life as we know it. Our mornings are hectic, we do school and therapy. We explore outside, and do more therapy. If we want to keep our kids slightly functional we have to fill their lives with therapeutic play.  We have to do most things for River from clothing, toileting, to just helping him through out the day. 3 days a week we travel to specialists and physical therapy appointments. Because we are rural it is a long day those three days traveling two hours each way. The kids participate in karate at Shriners hospital for children every Friday, and we spend time with the home school community each week, we have some amazing families in our area. Our lives are full and the kids are happy and amazing. 

Katahdin has been the most supportive loving big brother through it all. He is so helpful. Because of the disease and our grand love for the outdoors I started Homeschooling Katahdin when he turned 5, and then Kingston River once he turned 5.  Our life became complicated but it didn't let us loose site of our dreams and we never stopped doing what we love.  

The kids are 7,3, and 5 now, and we have reached the wonderful life of our 30's.  Our family just got back from a trip to England UK to get River a special wheelchair which was a gift from the Make-A-Wish foundation after he wished for a special snapdragon chair. It is a pretty amazing chair and we had a great time over there.

Not long before we left for our trip.......I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep so I  opened my computer to find a link to a page called Reeces Rainbow, I clicked it and at that moment our lives were changed forever. We discovered a situation that would soon deeply impact our lives and change our family as we know it. For years now we have been fighting a battle with a deadly disease, we have a life that revolves around love, our children, and the fight against disability. Having disabled children has changed the course of our life.....the link was to a site called  Reeces Rainbow, grant organization that listed orphans from all around the world with special needs living in unkind situations. There was a boy that really touched my heart so I showed my husband and he said ''how can we not try'' so we inquired and once the doors were open they couldn't be shut. We knew he was to be our son. We had no idea where he was, how much it would cost, or how we make it happen. What we did know was that he was alone, had been alone for years and he is about to age out of the possibility of ever finding a family and he has special needs that are not being cared for properly. We have only months to make this a reality. 

We found out that the average international adoption is insanely expensive 35,000- 37,000, and the country that he is in requires both of us to travel and stay up to 45 days. We don't have that kind of money but this child had imprinted on our hearts and we were not going to go down without a fight. This is a life we are talking about. Not long after opening the doors of the reality of what was happening to the children over there we found another child.  This time a little girl born the same year as Kingston River. She has also been diagnosed with SMA but a more severe diagnosis. We know enough about SMA to know that without aggressive care she will surely die, and the orphanage was already pleaing for her life and a family. We can't leave her behind so we added her to our adoption. 

We are a family of 5 about to be a family of 7. We have finished the home study, and have almost completed our dossier, we are waiting on our uscis approval and finger print appointment and then we will be able to submit for travel dates. We plan to show them our world and give them a life of adventure and love. We can't wait to show them the waterfalls, trails and mountains we call home. This is something they could never get being stuck in an institution until they die.  We are currently fundraising and are almost half funded. Our busy life is about to get busier. Love makes us stronger.  If you would like to help us get these kids home visit our funding page We will come for you We also have a Family sponsorship grant through Reeces rainbow, it is a way to give a tax deductible donation towards our adoption