SAM, DANTE, and ROMAN for the Loux Family

samfromkons-2dantefromkons-5

Ethan (Roman) & Silas (Dante) 2013

Ethan (Roman) & Silas (Dante) 2013

UKRAINE
On January 24th we finally arrived home with our three angels!  The flight from Ukraine was quite eventful.  Ethan (previously known as Dima) broke out in chicken pox a few days before we flew home so he was incredibly uncomfortable.  He also had pneumonia. We were quite shocked but thankful that he was cleared by the doctor to fly home. All our family was waiting at the airport for us with screams of joy, hugs, tears and lots of kisses.

The past two months have been truly amazing.  The boys are doing new thingsevery day and astounding their therapists.   Sasha (previously Sam), our 6 year old, had a hard time when he first arrived.    He would scratch us, bite us, pull our hair and scream at night.    Now Sasha is a completely different child.   He is at peace and doesn’t act out in a negative way at all. He loves all the love he is receiving and we love giving it to him.

Ethan (previously Dima), is 5 and has the body of a 1 year old. He is a completely different child as well.   We were told he would not be able to function mentally and physically beyond where he was at the time we met.   He was 11 pounds when he left the orphanage and is now 23 pounds.   He laughs and interacts with all of us with so much life! He was unable to even stand at the orphanage.   Now he is able to stand (leaning on something) for 20 minutes at a time.

Our 2 year old, Silas (previously Roman), is a joy bug. He keeps us laughing all the time. He was weak and had a terrible rash and nose infection when we brought him home.  Now he’s much healthier and stronger. He will have surgery in June to close the hole in his heart and we are thrilled with the good reports from his doctor!

We just returned from a weekend vacation celebrating the boys arrival.  We all spent 2 days the “Great Wolf Lodge,” here in Kansas City, where we all splashed at the indoor water park and celebrated our expanded family! The boys absolutely loved it and their sisters had so much fun swimming with them. The Lord has been so good and faithful to us, providing all we have needed along the way.  Thanks for your prayers and support! It is so good to be home!

Follow the family’s adoption journey on their blog at thelouxfamily1.blogspot.com

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OLENA for the Puderbaugh Family — NM

olenajune2008-3matteaandmommyUKRAINE

With nineteen children between us, we had thought our family was complete, but Heavenly Father knew differently. Last summer I was drawn to all of the beautiful children on the Reece’s Rainbow website and inquired about a few of the older boys. For one reason or another, none of them worked out. Finally one day in August, Andrea emailed me, “How about Olena?” This was a very tiny six-year-old girl in Ukraine with an unrepaired heart condition as well as Down Syndrome and no one knew, with her serious medical condition, just what her prognosis would be. After I consulted with a pediatric cardiologist, I hesitantly presented her profile to my husband. Both of us knew with a certainty that this little girl needed a family and that family was us.

 

We fast-tracked our paperwork, and with a very pro-active social worker and USCIS officer, a few months later our dossier was submitted. We traveled for the first time before Christmas to meet the little girl we would name Mattea and my heart broke to see her even smaller than my 2-year-old son, and only 23 pounds.. Since my husband was over the age limit, I was adopting her as a “married individual” and we worried that this would complicate the case, but our wonderful facilitators got us through court without a hitch. I traveled back in January to bring our new little daughter home. When we first met her she was not walking independently and needed to be fed chopped food from a spoon. She had no idea how to put food in her own mouth. She had spent six years of her life in a playpen. After only three months at home, she is blossoming like a little flower. She is now walking on her own and is able to finger-feed with soft foods. She is social and seeks out affection. She now weighs 31 pounds, and today she had her very first haircut. Her health is much better and we are hoping to be able to have her heart fixed. We are so blessed to have her in our family. We believe the words of Jeremiah— “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

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