My new home for the next few weeks....

Tonight I am sleeping in a new place, and a new bed. And I will be for the next three weeks.

Any guesses where I am??

I'll give you some hints:

1 - I get to see these two everyday!

2 - I get to see her everyday!

3 - I get to see these three everyday!

4 - Soon I will get to see this beautiful girl... and hold her in my arms.... and whisper in her ear she is loved.... and... and... I'm crying just thinking about it!

Have you guessed where I am yet?

My flights were uneventful... I met some neat people and got to sit in an awesome room with couches and free snacks during my layovers (because I flew as an unaccompanied minor). Beast of all were the 3 that picked me up at the airport though! :)

I sat next to a sweet lady on my first flight who was born right by where I live, and was flying back home to CT after visiting her sister. She asked where I was going, I said to help provide childcare for an adopting family in NY. She asked how I got connected to to them, so I explained that we adopted, and met my parents met them over in (insert country here) when they were adopting a little girl from the same orphanage that one of my brothers was at, etc.

I mentioned my brothers and their 3 have Down syndrome. She said she thought people with Ds were so sweet and special and that she really believed they were sent down to earth for a greater purpose.

It's the little things that make me happy and make my day. When people understand. When they aren't indifferent. When they are interested in hearing about the plight of orphans with Down syndrome in other countries. I love being a voice for the voiceless, and being able to tell people about the things that should be common knowledge, but aren't.

I promise I will still be blogging these next few weeks - my "regular" posts and posts (with pictures!) about being here. I am soo very looking forward to the next few weeks with the Spitz family as they get ready and welcome home their newest baby sister!

Waiting Wednesday: Michael and Arianna

Today I want you to meet two beautiful babies - Michael and Arianna!

Michael aka Mr. Monkey

Arianna aka Beautiful Blues

These two peanuts, are less than a year old, and oh soo precious! They are in the same orphanage and can be adopted together or separately. Both babies have Down syndrome, and would greatly benefit from being in a family at such a young age!

More info about Michael-
Michael is growing well but is of course developmentally delayed due to living in an orphanage.  His orphanage does provide therapy for their children so he does get services.  Michael can be adopted with little Arianna.

More info about Arianna-
Arianna is a beautiful little girl who is very healthy and ready to weave her way right into the heart of any mom and dad. Her medical records indicate she has a PFO and gets wonderful therapy!  She eats quite well and is a calm baby. She is getting quite mobile.  Arianna can be adopted with Michael.

Here is some more info about their country and the process to adopt them-

EASTERN EUROPE

• Travel consists of one trip of about 5 weeks or two smaller trips. One parent may leave after 2 weeks.
• Total cost for giving the priceless gift of a family to her is $15,000 plus home study/airfare/USCIS.
• Country party to the Hague convention.

Are you their family?? They are both soo little yet, please don't let them grow up knowing they are orphans and who don't have a family!

If you are interested in being their family please call Nina Thompson with Children's House International @ 360*383*0623. Thank you!

Homeschool Family Camp

I mentioned we were at homeschool family camp in this post, and I just blogged about it on my mom's blog so....

Go read about our weekend here!

What a doll baby!

I know these pictures have been in "circulation" for awhile, but I'm just getting around to posting them now... :)

You will never guess who this little doll baby is a new picture of!!!!

Is she not the cutest thing?? Look at that bow!!

It's LIANNE!!! Ya, this kid!! - 

It's hard to believe right? She's changed so much, and looks soo much better!! Here are some more new pictures of her!

I'm praying these new pictures will help little Lianne find a family soon!

Where are you mama? I'm waiting for you!

Homeschooling

Note: Please continue to keep Selah in your prayers, and a friend of mine will be adding updates to this post over while I'm gone if you want to keep checking for updates.

I started school earlier this week. We typically don't start until after Labor Day, but I wanted to get a head start to take time off later. I can do that when I homeschool!

Yes, I'm homeschooled! I have been all my life, and I wouldn't want it any other way. I LOVE it!

We are at homeschool camp (my friend is posting this for me), so in honor of the occasion, I want to share with you this video - Seven Lies About Homeschoolers. It's pretty awesome, and you'll get a kick out of it, esp if you are a homeshooler (or homeschooling mom)! And if you're not, maybe you'll learn something! :)



And for my homeschooling readers, you'll enjoy this one too (by the same guy)!



And I found this picture pretty awesome too! :)

Happy back to school everyone!

Waiting Wednesday: Megan

Was just about to publish this post last Wednesday when I heard the news and published this post instead.... please keep praying for Selah, and her daddy Jon who is now also sick.

This is Megan.

 This is her new picture. Isn't she adorable!?!

She is 6, and she has Down syndrome.

She is waiting in an institution for family to adopt her. 

She has over $24,000 in her adoption grant for the family that adopts her.

I'm not joking! TWENTY-FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS! That is almost everything a family will need financially to complete her adoption!

Megan 2H

Girl, born December 2005
Eyes: Blue
Hair: light brown
Temperament: Active, assertive, social

Diagnosis: Down syndrome

PLEASE HELP US FIND A FAMILY FOR MEGAN.  She has nearly a full grant for her adoption.

$24055.50 is available towards the cost of my adoption!

This is Megan.

Are you her family??

There's ONE LESS...

(Please keep praying for Selah... see the post below this one for updates.)

ONE LESS broken heart in the world tonight.
ONE LESS night alone.
ONE LESS child without a home.
ONE LESS birthday gone forgotten.
ONE MORE soul rising from the bottom.

Today, there is one less orphan in the world.

 Let me introduce you to....

LYLA ELIZABETH SPITZ

Today, there is...

ONE LESS ORPHAN

and

ONE MORE SPITZ

And she thinks that's pretty cool! Thank you Jesus!!!!

Psst... Listen to the song ONE LESS here.

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

I AM NO LONGER POSTING UPDATES! To see updates please go to Yvonne's blog. Yvonne wasn't blogging very much at the beginning, so I started updating here, but she is now, so please see her blog for updates.

KEEP PRAYING!!!! SELAH IS STILL FIGHTING FOR HER VERY LIFE!!!

Clanton's are devastated and there is no hope for a complete recovery at this point besides a miracle!

Address to sent the Clanton's some cards, gifts, and love!:
Ronald McDonald House of Rochester NY
Clanton Family
333 Westmoreland Dr

Rochester NY
14620

UPDATES:

Yvonne is posting updates on her blog daily, so I will no longer be posting updates here. For updates go to her blog.

UPDATE from Yvonne around 1:30pm Saturday afternoon-
Just two Saturdays we were in Mt Airy NC, cutting up and having fun with all the Mayberry props and stores....wish I could turn back time!!!!!!!!

Selah has tested positive for MRSA & her white count is up. PLEASE pray for her! This is serious!!!!!! 

Thank you all for your cards, letters, gifts, messages, texts, calls....each one has lifted us up and let us know that we are not alone.

UPDATE from Yvonne around 9pm Friday evening-
elah is still having unexplained fevers, she has been checked for everything you can think of...the fevers make her heart rate go back up into the 150's.

Today was just a sad hard day. This evening we went to Walmart & picked up a few things for the kids then we ate supper with them and I gave Sam and Sarah a bath. I laid down with Sam for awhile & he kept hugging me, that was so nice! Jon is staying over there tonight, his back has really been giving him fits again & I think that bed works better for him. We don't' want another problem with his back! Plus Sarah is crying some at night which is not like her. I think she misses mommy & daddy. 

Thanks for all your prayers, we really need them. We are still praying for our girl to wake up. I miss her so bad...I can't even describe how much I miss her and her funny little ways. I'm so angry that we only had 3 months with her before this happened. She's been through Hell in her short little life & finally had a family and we had our girls...now...it's just awful! 

These past three months have been the happiest of my entire life. I told Jon several times that I'd never been happier. I can remember just being in the laundry room & thanking God for my life, telling Him how content I was and how blessed. Jon said the day of the accident he was thinking that Life was just so good....now I truly can not imagine being really down deep happy again. My little girl is in a coma, with so much brain damage she can't even swallow...without a miracle from God, this is where she is. It's hard to imagine that just a few days ago she was running & playing and getting into everything! I want my Selah back so bad! Please keep praying. I've never asked God for much, just for my kids...and I'm begging for my Selah to come back to us. It's seems like for some reason, that has been the area in my life where I've had the greatest joys & the greatest sorrows. I don't understand WHY we have gone through so much, I think I've had my share of heartache in life and them some. 

I was thinking today of everything and for some reason God has not chosen in the past to deliver us from situations but He has given us the grace to go through situations. This time I am begging God with all that is within me to deliver us from this! but I pray that we will be like the three Hebrew children who said "Oh King Our God is able to deliver us but even if He does not do so, we won't bow" Please pray for deliverance for our child. Pray that god will bring her out, restored to herself. Selah was very delayed, around a 12-18 month level, although she was 8 yrs old. But we adored her right where she was! We'd give anything to have that little personality back! Please pray!!!!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 6:30pm Thursday evening-
Today we met with Dr Aquevella on Sarah's MRi and possible surgery. Sarah has a "kink" in her optic nerve as well as some problems with her retina. Her retina is very uneven, think in some places & thicker in others....so those two things do not make her a good candidate for cornealimplant surgery. We had decided if the risk was more than 50/50 we were not going to do it. Well it's alot worse than 50/50 so we have decided not to do the corneal implant. There is some sadness, because we desired to give her more sight since the day we first saw her picture. It was our dream for her to be able to see as well as Sam does.... But on the other hand she will not have to go through with surgery and aftercare/pain and in one sense we are relieved. she has a little sight and she does enjoy and use it as much as she can. We think she sees light and colors. If we were to do the surgery & her eye couldn't handle it , she would probably go black/blind. So we will work with what she has. She is such a joyful little girl, she doesn't know the difference & isn't grieving this. We are sad but think it is the best decision.

We also had a serious meeting for Selah to map out the future....She still is having fevers but once they are under control, then she will have the trach and g-tube put in. She will also possibly have dental surgery here . We were planning on having that done back home as she needs extensive work. We have a very long road ahead. when she is released from this hospital, she will be moved back to Florida and will first go to a hospital or a re-hab as we get our home ready for her. We will probably have to add a room for her, so she is more secure and can have nursing in there. It's alot to take in....

So please pray that the fevers go away. Pray that she will be able to get her trach & feeding tube in with no complications. Pray that she will show enough response to be put into their 3 hr daily rehab program. I'm not sure that she will qualify. Thank you for your prayers!!!!

What a day this has been.....

Looking forward to another day, an eternal day. Remember the old song...

"What a day that will be, when my Jesus I shall see, When I look upon his face, the One who saved me by His grace. When He takes me by the hand & leads me to the Promised Land, what a Day glorious Day that will be....

There'll be no dying there, no more burdens to bear, no more sickness,no more pain, no parting ere again, &forever I will be with the One who died for me, what a day Glorious Day that will be!

Believe me I am looking forward with much hope to that day, tonight...

UPDATE from Yvonne around 8am Thursday morning-
Last night I had such a sweet dream. I dreamed we were home and it was storming outside and Selah "woke up" and started pulling her wires off and sit up in bed. She couldn't walk but she was Selah...what a a wonderful dream.....

Now I'm a cautious person, I don't go around claiming things and I'm not going to say that dream was from the Lord. I've had a couple of dreams in my life that I did feel came from God and I am not sure if this is one of them. It may have just came from deep inside where there is still hope...but it was a comfort to me.


After being in the ER all day, Jon was diagnosed with something like acute acid relux and given several prescriptions. He is feeling much better today.

Last night I ate supper with the family and was there to work on eye drops...no matter what is happening eye drops go on....LOL Anyhow it's so good to be with our family, like a salve to my heart. At one point, Shad, Sam and Sarah were sitting on me or leaning against me...it felt so so good!! The kids are doing great. Uncle Jim is with them, with a new appreciation of diaper duty LOL. Steve, as always, is a great help. 

Selah is stable. They had done some cultures and she is responding to the antibiotics, hopefullly her fevers will soon be gone. yesterday she did keep one eye completely open and the other somewhat open. We are praying that she will have a gag/cough reflex as well as a response to the corneal test...Please pray for that for her and pray that her fevers are gone. Obviously we don't know what she is thinking but pray that god speaks to her little heart while she is in this state. A friend had given me a CD some time ago and I'm glad I had it in the van. it's the group called Selah "Greatest Hymns" we have kept that on for days now and each song speaks to my heart and I hope to her heart too.

Just continue to pray....thank you so much!!!!!!!! I may not return every call (or any-I'm just not good on the phone right now) I might not text, or hit LIKE on everything on FB since I don't have alot of time but I am unbelievably grateful to each of you who are praying. reaching out, we just feel covered by love....

UPDATE from Yvonne around 12pm Wednesday afternoon-
Today we were not able to meet for our conference. Jon was sick all night but didn't wake me up. When I woke up, I took him down to the ER. He has acute reflux/acid. He was having awful burning stomach pain. It's some better now thanks to some meds. Due to his family history of heart issues & the past week, they are holding him another 6 hours to make sure all his bloodwork stays stable. Please pray for my sweet husband. He is seldom sick & always tries to keep a stiff upper lip....With all his back issues, he never missed a day of work so he hates that this has happened. 

Selah has her eyes more open than ever today which is nice but she still doesn't respond to the cornea touch ( she should jerk her head away or at least close her eyes, nor does she have the gag/cough that she needs. She has a little fever off & on still so please pray for her Thank you all again!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 8pm Tuesday night-
Surprised the famiy getting a ride to the RMHl & ate supper with them. We took care of Sam & Sarah & put them to bed. needed some cuddle time with little ones and face time with the bigger ones....Really needed it! Thinking about last week, last Tuesday night we had gotten thruough the long day at the hospital for Sarah & Sam's eyes, it was raining and we ate here. It was Selah's bday & I hate that we didn't do something more special for her. It was the last night before the accident. I remember lying in our room that night so glad the kids had done ok and was so happy...what a difference a week makes...

UPDATE from Yvonne around 4pm Tuesday afternoon-
Selah has had a slight increase in temp & has been a little restless today. she has had a UTI & may have a little spot of pneumia but they've changed her antibodics out and given her some morphine and she is very peaceful right now. Please pray that she is comfortable.

UPDATE from Yvonne around 2pm Tuesday afternoon-
We got a good night of sleep last night (thank you Tylenol PM!!!) & we were able to have a good talk this morning. Jon & I are 100% on the same page and I am thankful for that. We made a commitment to the court in Ukraine to be Selah's & Sarah's parents, knowing their disabilities, knowing they would need life long care. I cried that day as we looked into the judge's eyes as we made our heartfelt commitment to love and care for them. It reminds me of the day I made a commitment to Jon in marriage, "for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness & in health" When I made that commitment to Jon I had NO idea what I was really committing to...we look back now and laugh. With the girls, I had some idea, because we have other children and another handicapped child, so I knew how life would be...and we were content with that. Now life has changed dramatically BUT not our commitment!

Tomorrow we have a meeting with the doctors/social workers etc to to plan out the next steps for her. We believe she will be here for 4-6 more weeks and then we plan on taking her home. She will have a trach and a feeding tube put in. We are still praying for God's healing & mercy but we must be practical too. We have alot to learn in order to take care of her.

Please pray for her, for God to heal and for Jon & me to be able to hear what is said to tomorrow and be able to understand what needs to be done....

I want to tell you all who are reading this I do appreciate your prayers. They are holding our family up to the Throne of God. It means so very much to me. And I want to testify to you that God is a faithful God. I can say that sitting beside my comatose daughter in the PICU, with a broken heart. He is still faithful.

The thoughts that have gone through our heads today have been thoughts of eternity. Life is short and eternity is long< has been something that has gotten me through some dark days before & is a comfort to my heart. And what I mean is, in this world we will have trouble, hard times, accidents, death, heartache BUT there is coming a day when every tear will be wiped from our eyes...I am looking forward to that day! I have a hope beyond this life. It is real to me and even more so since I had Sam, knowing one day he would be whole. And now......it is more real to me than this room I sit in. So we walk on with hope in our hearts for the future here and our eternal future...please continue to pray....

UPDATE from Yvonne around 7:30pm Monday evening-
Had a hard talk with our compassionate doctor....don't really want to go into details but our lives are forever changed without a huge miracle. I appreicaite the prayers and I trust God regardless of the outcome...but things are bad neurologically. Physically she is doing good overall, no big concerns, However the discussion I had tonight was one that Jon & I have had for the past few days and it is hard. Basically Selah will live and breath on her own with a trach (since she doesn't cough or gag) feeding tube but all the movements we see are really basic brain stem activity. They are great but since they are not combined with some of the other things... it doesn't give us much.... We will be making many decisions in the next few days/weeks as we set our aftercare up. I appreciate your care and wanting to encourage me with various stories but every case is different and it doesn't really encourage me at all. Our doctor is a man of faith who led prayer for us yesterday and prayed from his heart for us today. He is just honest I know he would love to be wrong and hopes there is a miracle but miracles dont' always happen the way we want them to. He still says we'll know more as time goes by, and there is some hope for more change but as time goes by and she does so well in some ways, it makes the neuro stuff that much harder. I trust in God although my heart is breaking... If you feel the need to give me any advice please resisit it.....Just pray that God will still do a miracle for our sweet girl.

UPDATE from Yvonne around 5pm Monday evening-
Selah is off the cooling blanket study so the EEG is gone, along with a few other tube. We talked to the Neuro and he said she is going in the right direction but very slow and that's not a good sign. He thinks her brain stem has recovered but that is just basic reflexes NOT personality. So please pray for her!!!!!! She did poop and they are going up on her feeds. Her heart rate is lower still not quite down to 100 but now in the 120's unless she is upset!

UPDATE on SARAH from Yvonne around 5pm Monday evening-
Sarah had her MRI, it took all day being down there! She did great, we actually had her anestalogist from Tues and he was so sweeet to us. We haven't heard if the surgery is on or when it will be done.

UPDATE around 10am or so Monday morning-
Found out from Jon's brother Jim, who flew up to be with them, that Selah pooped!! PRAISE GOD! I'll add Yvonne's post here when it comes in.

UPDATE from Yvonne around 5:30 Monday morning-
Morning update: Selah is stable heart rate is now averaging in the 120s, on it's way down finally!!! 

Please also remember Sarah today as she will have an MRI, they are working her in so we don't know what time yet. It's hard to do this but she needs the medical help. With any type of eye surgery on a child, time is important. Even putting things off for a month or so wouldn't be good. The brain has to make "pathways" to the eye for sight to "work" So since she is already 5 yrs old, she is near the cut off for her to be helped. So we are going to go ahead and push through and do this. It is hard as we feel so vulerable to anything right now and she has to be put under anesthia...so please pray!!!

See rest of updates at the bottom of this post....

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Clanton Family
L to R behind the stollers: Shad (8), Jon, Steve (16), Yvonne
In the strollers L to R: Sarah (7), Sam (8), and Selah (8)

This is the Clanton family. They adopted two girls from Ukraine eariler this year, and Yvonne is a dear friend of mine.

This is Yvonne's facebook post from today -

PLEASE PRAY!!! If you've not heard, we've had a terrible accident. Jon took Sam and Selah on a walk on the Erie Canal before lunch today. He stopped for a minute on a level surface, to lost control of the stroller & the stroller rolled into the Erie Canal. Jon jumped into the canal right after them. He was able to hold the stroller up & fought against the current pulling him and the stroller down. He couldnt' get the kids' unhooked but was able to pull them up some and evidently got Sam's head up. Someone jumped in and took him out and Jon and another lady pulled up the stroller so they could do rescue breathing on Selah until the EMTs got there. The Erie Canal is very deep, cold, and strong currents...the sides are cement with nothing to hold to... Sam is ok, put is being kept overnight since his body temp went down to 90 degrees. At this point Selah is not expected to live...our hearts are broken. PLEASE PLEASE PRAY FOR SELAH!!! We love her so much and have loved being her parents. We are asking God for mercy! She is on life support, currently she is in a study ( the only hope they could give us) The study is to keep her temp at a certain lower than normal point with the hope that could help. But they still give us no real hope and even if she should live, they feel she won't be "Selah" anymore. Please pray that God will give us a miracle for our little girl!!!!!!!

PLEASE PLEASE PRAY FOR SELAH AND HER FAMILY AND SPREAD THE WORD TO RALLY MORE PRAYERS!!!

Previous Updates - most recent ones are above:

UPDATE from Yvonne around 12am Monday morning-
Today was a very hard day. Selah had no responses till evening & that was hard for us! However as they were changing an IV she had tears and was moving her head. We were told that tears come from the lower part of the brain stem and was not really a big sign. We don't know, it seems she is here at times. Still NO gag or cough PLEASE pray for that! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!! Tomorrow is a new week, she will finish the study at 5 pm and be taken off the cooling sheets. She will start physical therapy...She was started on feeds through a nasal feeding tube ( just like a NICU baby has) and is tolerating that. Her heart rate was down some around 130-140 , it still needs ot get down to 100! Please pray for our girl to come back to us! We have both cried on and off all day. 

Went to church this morning and I just wept through most of the service. The words of the song becomes so much richer when you are going through a trial..."the Defender of the weak, You comfort those in need..." How Great Thou Art" etc....

we went out to eat after service and the server asked how many and Jon and I both said 7, then we said 6...then we cried when we were seated. It was hard to ride in the care with all the children and have that one carseat empty. Oh God somethings are like knives in the heart!!!!! Then as we were getting ready to leave the server comes over with a gift card from a family who had just left. We just bawled again and so did our server....

I can relate to David in the bible when he said "his eyes were swollen from crying" Please pray that God will see those tears and answer our prayers!!!!!!!!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 12am Monday morning-

As of Saturday, Sam is HOME at the RMH (Ronald McDonald House) with his brothers and sister being cared for by his uncle! Thank you Jesus for healing Sam!

Sam, with oldest brother Steve, and his daddy!

Sam with his mommy and his daddy!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 12am Monday morning-
God has prepared me for months for this...in gentle ways He has spoke to my spirit. Years ago he gave me the verse Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and very courageous for the Lord thy God is with you wherever you go" I am SOOOO NOT a mystic type christian but that has been popping up everywhere and I felt God was telling me to get ready for something. Early in the summer I met a lady in the mall and she was Not weird but she told me God was about to do something BIG in our family. But that I'd have to really trust him. I took her serious and felt it was from the Lord, although it was right after the adoption and I did say He had done something BIG!!!!!! She told me there was more to come and that it would be seen by many...I had forgotten that until right now. One of my friends was with me and I think she'll remember that I took the lady serious and didn't joke around or be sarcastic about it. ( I tend to do that as most stuff people say is a bit crazy but I felt it was from God) Some people had some disturbing dreams about my family, especially of Sam... and I felt a God given sense of premonition all summer. God prepared me for the loss of my twins that way ( I'm not saying that Selah is not going to make it) God knew this was going to happen...I don't understand it all but like the old poem "The Weaver" I will one day!

I want to write more about this but I have to go to bed as tomorrow will be a long day. Thanks for your prayers and just know that God is with you through everything!!!!!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 6am Sunday morning-
We're up so we cansee the doc and Selah then we are going to the RMH to get the rest of the crew and then go to church. Hope that many of you will be in church today praying for Selah!


UPDATE from Yvonne around 10pm Saturday night-
Selah continues to make some movements...however we have been told they are not the kind of movements we should be seeing...it's long and detailed and confusing to explain....however we feel she is reaching out to us. PRAY specifically that her heart rate will come down (still around 150ish for the most part) pray that her blood pressure will NOT go up! She is still in danger of more brain damage from that. Pray that she will have a gag reflex and that she will respond to pain correctly. She has started responding a little but in a way that leads them to believe she is only responding from her brain stem. She is swollen and has been given drugs to combat that. Today they had to remove a arterial line because there was a blood clot. This has been a long day of many ups & downs... pray for Jon & me....

Please attend church tomorrow and ask for prayer for Selah!!!!!

YES Sam came home to RMH today....sounds crazy I didn't mention it....long day but this was the highlight!!! I have pictures but forgot the camera in the car, willpost tomorrow!!!!!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 5pm Saturday evening-
Lots of ups and downs today.....
This morning Selah cracked her eyes and blinked. But the doc doesn't think it's voluntary because she doens't have a gag reflex. That is so important for her to have. So this afternoon she responded to her mouth being washed out by moving her head. But she still didn't have a gag reflex. The gag relex is one of the first things a fetus has, and for her NOT to have that is NOT good. Her heart rate is still high but it doesn't seem to be affecting her much. We are waiting for neuro to read her EEG. In my heart I feel her movements were purposeful BUT I'm not sure. PLEASE pray that her movement will NOT be seizure related and that they will become more consisitant!!! We had a very serious discussion with the doc on the PICU today and it was heartbreaking. My stomach is a MESS!!!! But I'm trusting God. I've gone from the heights to the depths today.......

REQUEST from Yvonne around 7am Saturday morning-

Can I ask you a favor? so many have asked "what can I do to help?" THIS is what I want. I want each of you to go to church Sunday morning and ask your church to pray for Selah. I know some of you have gotten out of the habit of church attandance and some even feel it is not necessary to go anymore, that you can worship where ever you are....but there is something special about a corprate worship service and so many praying at once. So if you want to do something for us, please do that! and ASK specificaly for your church to pray for our little girl for improvement. thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 7am Saturday morning-
Selah was stable through the night. We need to see some improvement and SOON! The more time that goes by, the less chance of a full recovery. We are depending on the mercy of God. The staff here is amazing. I've never seen anything like the level of concern, care and professionalism. They are as postitive as they can be, but I see in their eyes/faces and by what they don't say, that they do not give us much hope for a full recovery. They have seen too many children/people in this situation that do not recover. I am a realist, I've seen so much heartache in life, and beiing in the ministry, I know God doesn't always answer prayers the way we may want, we live in a fallen world. But I still trust the One who has been my guide through life. I don't feel that I (as a mere mortal) can comand or demand that God do what MY will is. But I throw myself on His mercies...and I can rest in that. This morning I woke with a heavy heart and a sick stomach. I ask you to pray for the mercy of God in this situation. Pray that He will, in His grace, work a miracle. Thank you

UPDATE from Yvonne around 10pm Friday night-
We got to meet the police officers who were on the scene first. One of them worked on Sam. Sam was much much worse than we thought he was, he was blue and not breathing. We didn't know their part of the story before. It was a miracle that he recovered so quickly. We were just shocked to hear their part of the story. God in his mercy had everyone in place to rescue these children, I don't understand everything but I know God shows us mercy!!!! I just had to share this with you all. God certainly gave us a miracle!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 10pm Friday night-
Yvonne blogged an update - read it HERE!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 9:30pm Friday night-
Update! I have some good news to report. Selah is making some small advances. Her pupils are bigger and are reacting more. She is still taking some breaths on her own. The neruo did some testing and there was some positive responses but we have a LONG way to go. We think she is opening her eyes just a tiny bit on her own. I asked him if he thought she would live and he said "oh yes based on

 how things are remaining stable in her body BUT I don't know how far she will return, she may never come off a vent, but it is in the hands of God" She has remained stable in all areas, her heart rate is up still and we need it to come down to a normal range. Pray for our little girl, pray that God will bring her back to us completely. Pray that she has a gag reflux and that she begins blinking her eyes.... thank you all

UPDATE from Jon's brother (who flew up to be with them) around 9pm Friday night-
Encouraged that Selah's heart rate came down slightly, and she appears to be taking more breaths on her own. Thanks for all of the prayers...

UPDATE from a friend of Yvonne's around 8:30pm Friday night-
I was waiting to copy a status from Yvonne but I know her laptop had a dead battery earlier so I'll pass along what she told me. When I talked to her she sounded good and there had been some (however small) improvements today. The neurologist gave her a little bit of hope. Some of Selah's responses were moving in a positive direction. Keep praying--they still have a long road ahead and there are no guarantees for the future but with all the prayers going up for that little one I know God hears them! Thank you again for loving my friends and lifting them up!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 7am Friday morning-
Since adopting the girls, I've told my husband over and over again that I have NEVER been happier or more content in my life. Our house and arms were full and there was just so much love and peace...they were meant to be with us and fit in perfectly. I've loved having the respondsibility for their lives and have been thrilled to go to all the doctors & specialists to improve their health and well being. It's been a HONOR to take care of them, even to changing their diapers:) (yes they both still wear diapers along with Sam) I love dressing them in cute NEW clothes (after all the insituions clothing) I've loved seeing their hair grow longer and have managed to give some bows in Selahs hair a little:) I've thought so many times of the long road it was to bring them into our life and the long road they walked alone before they had a family, but God intersected our paths please keep praying

UPDATE from Yvonne around 7am Friday morning-
UPDATE! Overnight Selah stayed about the same, her blood pressures seem to be more stable but her heart rate is still not coming down to a more normal range. Please pray that her heart rate will come down to 60-100 beats a minute. She is at about 150...again thank you all for your prayers, I've never seen or heard of anything like the support and prayers we are getting! Thank you for bringing Selah's name to God's throne continuously. Keep praying ! We have no hope except in God!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 12am Friday morning-
I want all of you to know, I am shattered, heartbroken and helpless. I shake off and on throughout the day (literally uncontrolably) I don't know what tonight holds much less tomorrow but I still TRUST my Savior no matter where He leads... I am not bitter at all and thank God for the deep peace that comes from him. That doesn't mean I'm calm nor does that mean I'm not anixous...I am ! I can't even sleep although I only slept 2-3 hours last night but I still trust Jesus NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS!!!!! So no matter what you are going through tonight, I can tell you Jesus can walk with you through it!!! I can truly testify to that! I am weak, and barely can type becaues I am shaking from stress, fear, heartache but I HOLD to Jesus' hand no matter what comes.... "where else can I go but to the Lord?"

UPDATE from Yvonne around 11pm Thursday night- 

Yvonne has posted a detailed update on her blog - Please go read it here - UPDATE!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 10pm Thursday night-

Update...Selah's heart rate is staying too high, pray for it to come down to normal, not a good sign. Also pray that her blood pressure remains stable it's going up & coming down, it needs to stay around 120/80, Her blood sugar went really low (40) & she had to be given some extra sugar. Pray that God will heal our little sweet LaLa & give her back to us whole. Hug your kids and don't take a day for granted...you don't know what can happen! Cherish the moment!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 10pm Thursday night-

Ronald McDonald House of Rochester NY is so wondrful to us. They have provided a room in the hospital for us to sleep/take a shower in. I can't say enough about their support of our family! It's been like this everytime we've come up and they have just met our needs in such a pracital way. I'm in the room now, going to try and sleep since I didn't really sleep last night at all. Tomorrow my sweet bro in law Jim Clanton is flying up to be with us. Thank you again for all your prayers, please cover us and Selah, this is so hard....

UPDATE from Yvonne around 5:30pm Thursday evening- 

Update...Sam is completely back to normal but they are keeping him till tomorrow. Selah is still fighting! The doctor that told us yesterday that she would not make it at all said today that she may make it but will not be "Selah" meaning she has so much brain damage... We need PRAYER! Pray that her heart rate will come down to a normal level of 60-100, she is at 150 and pray that she will take more breathes on her own. Pray that she will not get any infections or fevers. Please pray for our sweet girl and for the rest of the family

We got to meet and thank the students and doctor who jumped in and saved the kids.

Thank you all for the prayers, texts, emails and calls! We feel the love!

UPDATE from Yvonne around 7am Thursday morning- 

Thank you all for your prayers....PLEASE keep praying...Selah's heart rate is up (not good) and she is taking less breaths on her own....we need your prayers....please please pray for her like she was your little girl!!! This morning my hope is all gone but I am thankful that you all can hold us up to the Father...

UPDATE from Yvonne around 11pm Wednesday night- 

Looking on FB and post after post after post is asking for prayer for my family....thank you so so much! They are calling the hospital where a friend's son had a near drowning and talking to them. The protcal is different then here and different than the study but he survived....

UPDATE from Yvonne around 10pm Wednesday night-

Thank you all for the wonderful messages of FAITH! I read through all of them, with tears running down my face. We need you all to hold us up to the Father. We are devasted and have been given no hope. Jon is heartbroken....please pray for our family...we are crying out to God but are in the middle of this and it is hard.... Selah is stable and takes a few breathes on her own & has a little response in her pupils but they still do not expect her to live. We are trusting in God and God alone right now.

Some news articles worth and reading-

-Best story I've seen so far is HERE
-"The Family Speaks about Canal Incident"
-Some pictures in THIS ONE. The 1st picture is Sam, and the 4th picture is Yvonne. It also shows what the canal looked like where it happened.