Days of Elijah - Day 8

On day 8 of Days of Elijah, I want you to know that my brother Elijah is soo very special just the was he is! Yes, he does have Down Syndrome, but that is just a medical diagnosis. It doesn't define him!

He is NOT a 'Down's boy', or a 'Down syndrome kids'. Just like you don't call a person with cancer a 'cancer lady', you don't call individuals with Down Syndrome a "Down's baby'. It's called People First Language!

He is absolutely precious, unique, wonderful, and soo very loved just the way he is!!

I know I've posted that song before, but I love it and had to post it again! :) I love you Elijah!!!

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Days of Elijah - Day 7

I hope you don't mind, but this time I'm going to get caught up by posting each day separate, so hopefully it will register in my brain that I need to post EVERY day! :)

I've already told you that Elijah LOVES shutting doors and Down Syndrome should be renamed Shutting Door Syndrome. Well, another alternative would be renaming it Pushing Button Syndrome!

Not as in pushing peoples buttons to drive them crazy (though at times he is good at that too!), but pushing buttons on TV's, remotes, phones, iPads, radios, computer keyboards, and especially DVD players! He's figured out how to open the DVD player, put Signing Time in, and get it play. Stinker! Dad will definitively be making a DVD player guard soon! We also have to lock the computer every time we walk away from it! :)

Tip: To lock a computer quickly to keep little fingers from messing things up, hit the Widows button and the 'L' button. Thanks Michelle! :)

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Faithful Friday - The Clanton Family

Today, I'd like to introduce you to the wonderful family of TWO special children I've posted about for Waiting Wednesday!! The Clanton's!

And they are bring home, none other than Genesis....

AND Dmitriy!!

GENESIS and DMITRIY for the Clanton family — Zephyrhills, FL

Jon & Yvonne Clanton have been married for 22 years and have three children, Steve (16) , Sam (7) and Shad (8 ).  Jon pastors Grace Church  and is the prison chaplain at Zephyrhills Correctional.  Their story is very unique.  Sam was born premature but did ok.  The day after he was born they were allowed to hold him for the first time.  He rewarded them by opening his eyes and his parents saw for the first time that something was incredibly wrong.  His eye were different sizes and very cloudy.  Somehow in all the drama of his birth, this had been overlooked by medical staff.  The Clantons feel now that it was a holy moment they shared with their child as the enormity of their situation sunk in….  He was to be diagnoised with Peter’s Anomaly a very rare eye condition that also affected his development.   When Sam was one, the Clantons saw a picture of a little blind boy in China.  He tugged at their heart even tho they had NO savings left & Yvonne had quit her job as a probation officer supervisor.  But they stepped out in faith and God provided every penny!  Yvonne picked Shad up in china, 9 months & 6 days after they began the paperwork!  BTW, he is only blind in one eye!!!  He has no other physical or developmental problems.

Recently they became aware of Reece’s Rainbow. Yvonne is always on the lookout for blind kids so she saw Genesis & Dmitry and it upset her so much she clicked off her picture. Genesis looked so much like her son Sam that all she could think of was “what if that were Sam?” Then their church took up an offering for orphans and she went back to RR to find a child to put the money on…again she saw Genesis and Dmitiry. They decided to work on finding funding to put on the children for grants. Within a few days, the family realized that God was calling them to step out in faith and adopt Genesis, and soon they realized they could not leave Dmitiry behind.. They have now committed to both of them and the process has begun! They are looking forward to both of the children having the same surgery their son Sam had and are hopeful the surgery will give them some sight! 

11/18/11—HOME STUDY IN PROGRESS

Follow the Clanton family's adoption journey on their blog http://www.myreallifebyyvonne.blogspot.com

$140.00 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

The Clanton's already have two visually impared boys, one adopted from China. And now they are feeling the call to step out in faith again, and bring home two more little ones which vision issues!!! They REALLY need your prayers and help, because both Genesis and Dmitriy are in a horrible horrible place, and need out ASAP!!! And my favorite part... is what they are naming them! Dmitriy will be Seth Job, and Genesis will be named SARAH!! ♥♥

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Days of Elijah - Days 5 and 6

Would you believe me if I told you that it never even crossed my mind to post about this yesterday? sigh... blogging fail, again!

Day 5
Closing Door Syndrome is what Down syndrome should be renamed! I wasn't the clever person who came up with that, but I agree 100% with it! :) Elijah LOVES to close doors, gates, drawers, dishwashers, any thing you can shut that's open! He will literally walk around closing things. He will shut the TV door when Signing Time is on, and get mad because he can't see it anymore. You figure that one out by yourself little man! I'm perfectly fine with a break from Signing Time! :) It does get annoying though when you are trying to load up the dishwasher, and he comes over, you trip on him, he shuts the dishwasher, and signs "Thank you" because he thinks he's doing you a favor! Silly boy!

Day 6
The Phonix radio. It makes itself known probably more than a 100 times a day around here. If Elijah isn't watching Signing Time, eating, or napping, you'll usually find him playing with this toy. He LOVES it, hence his constant companionship with it. :) Unfortunately for him, it might just "run out of batteries" pretty soon here, if he can't learn to keep it on the quieter volume. ;)

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Though I usually don't fail to post her picture, it gets harder and harder to post it each time. Why? Because if I'm still posting it, that means she is still waiting. Enough said.

Liberate Lina!!!

It's not that far until Christmas, and you have the chance to get some Christmas shopping done, and set this little one free!

She is 5 years old, and as you can see, she is TINY! She is in a horrible institution, the same one as Kelten and Teagan actually. She does have a family working to get her, and you can visit their blog HERE. However they need funds to bring her home as soon as possible to get the urgent medical treatment she needs. A couple of really sweet ladies have organized a blog auction to help set her free! There are over a hundred items you can bid on, definitely something for everyone!

My personal favorites are the brown bag, the yarn assortments, and the hair bow assortment and bow holder - I'll will need several of the hair bow holders for my future girls!! ;) And as Rachel says, "If they don't like bows in their hair...well...I'll make them like bows!!" :)

Please head on over to HIDDEN TREASURES to help Liberate Lina!!!

I'm sure Lyla wouldn't mind being liberated either!!!! :)