Dakota's 10th birthday

On May 1, 2013, Dakota would have turned 10 years old.

A lot goes through my mind when I think about that. Ten years is an entire decade. A decade!
In my life, I've lived in two centuries and over one and a half decades. In Dakota's life, he lived in one century and lived less than a decade.
The word "decade" is such a big word. Ten years may not seem too much, but a lot can happen to someone in a decade. So many firsts to be experienced. The first time you smile, speak, walk, loose a tooth, go to school, play a sport, ride a bike. In his short seven years of life, how many of those did Dakota experience? I can tell you this; not as many as he should have.

It's days like the first of May that make me think of Dakota's parents. What were they like? Are they dead, or still out there somewhere, unaware that their son has died? Does he look like them? Maybe he had his daddy's face shape, his mommy's eyes. Maybe he would have looked like his uncle had he lived to see his teenaged years.
How long did his mother and father hold their baby son before he ended up in an orphanage, and later, an institution? Did he know love in those first few days, months, years of life? Did his mother not want to see him after his birth, finding out her son had a disability? Or did she take him in her arms, kissing his forehead, whispering how much she loved him and how she always would, only to become unable to afford caring for him?
None of these questions will be answered in my lifetime. But I still ask them anyway. It seems like you just *have* to wonder in situations like this. Wondering is painful, of course, but it's a human need, to know the answers.

On May 1, 2013, two children in Dakota's institution were given new hope in his name.

Reece's Rainbow has been reallocating the grants of the Russian children to children in other countries because the Russian government is just not budging. It's been very difficult coming to terms with what this means for the Russian children. It's been very difficult coming to terms with the certain death that is in the near future for Donovan, Caiden, and Alexander. I still cry over these beautiful boys and girls, who are suffering greatly due to their country's immature adults. Just a day or two after Dakota's birthday, a little girl on Reece's Rainbow from Russia died. Her name was Dayna, and she was just three or four years old. Dayna was the first of many Russians, I'm sure, on Reece's Rainbow to die. And that thought is sickening.

But with the reallocations of these grants comes new hope. The founder of Reece's Rainbow took requests for the new locations of the grants of advocates' Angel Tree children. My dad's angel tree child last year was Travis, and mine was Ralph. My dad let me decide where Travis's grant would go, and I already knew where Ralph's would go.



Ralph's grant went to Valiant, a little boy who looks very much like Dakota and resides in the institution where Dakota passed away. He is seven years old, the same age as Dakota lived to be. With the addition of Ralph's grant, Valiant's grant became $3,612. This put him on the "Moving Mountains" page on RR for kids with large grants. I have signed up to be Valiant's official prayer warrior and guardian angel as well, and I am praying every day for his family to look on that page and find him.

Travis's grant went to Victor, a young man in Dakota's institution who was born in May 2003. He turns ten years old this month, just like Dakota would have. But he is still alive, still enduring things unknown in that institution. He had a very minuscule grant, but now with the addition of Travis's grant, he has $1,226.

When I think about the kids in Dakota's institution, there are many emotions that flood me. Anger that they have to stay there, where so many have died of medical neglect. Frustration that these kids on RR are some of the least advocated for, some with only a few dollars in their grants. Sadness over how they must have ended up there; some on RR have in their bios that they are true orphans and know love. Can you imagine knowing what it's like to be loved by a mommy and daddy, and then both of your parents die and you are dumped in an institution? I cannot even fathom the pain those children must feel.
And of course, another emotion. Devastation. Every time I see those children, look into their eyes, I see Dakota. I see Lionel, Katerina, Margarita and Olga. I see all of the children and adults who have died in that institution. I know that these children could very well become statistics if they aren't rescued soon.
But then I think about the miracle of Reece's Rainbow.
This year, several children have been saved from that institution. Victoria, who'd been there for a long time and recently moved, was adopted. Maxim, who'd known nothing but that institution for years, was adopted with another teenaged girl, also from there. Brent, a beautiful boy with Down syndrome, also rescued. Igor, home now. All of these children who knew what it was like to live there, now know what it's like to be loved unconditionally. That brings me so much happiness, the final emotion.

It is too late for Dakota. I know this. It's too late for him to be adopted into a family here on earth. No, he was adopted into heaven. But it's not too late for Valiant, Victor, Alex, Tyson, Nolan, or any of the other children there. We have to ensure that they don't have to endure the death that Dakota endured. They deserve so much more than that.

Happy 10th birthday, sweet Dakota. I love you so much. I can't wait to hold you one day.

January, February, March & April updates

Awful blogger over here. Things have just been a bit emotionally compromising lately. Russia has closed its doors for adoption for a long time. We don't see any way out of it in the near future. So, the children on this blog from Russia have been failed, along with the rest of their orphans. Donovan, who does not have the time to wait for his country, will die. It's likely that Caiden will too, and Sasha if he doesn't get treated for his brain tumor. I have been really grieving this, even though I'm pretty sure that all three are currently alive. I check the database for them every week, and they're still there. I'm just accepting the fact that one day, if their country doesn't grow up and put its ego aside, they're going to disappear from the database. It hurts so badly. Losing Dakota was a nightmare, seeing as he'd been dead for a long time before anyone found out. This is equally as sickening, because their own. country. has refused to help them. I'm terrified for Ralph, Georgia, Ewan and Gemma, because they have already been transferred and there is no way out for them. I am terrified that they will die as well. And Thad, Sophia, Mark, Travis, and R.J are nearing transfer age. Baby Veronica will have to grow up with this fate too. Dear Lord, help these children. They don't deserve this pain.

Anyways, updates~

January:
Veronica turned 2 years old.
Kiril turned 9 years old.
Daniel turned 7 years old.
Gemma turned 6 years old.
Ralph turned 6 years old.
Christopher turned 2 years old.
Sammy turned 2 years old.


February:
Ewan turned 7 years old.
Sophia turned 5 years old.
Philip turned 7 years old.

March:
Olive turned 9 years old.
Philip was adopted.
William was adopted.

April:
Alexander turned 11 years old.
David was adopted.
Mitko was adopted.
Payton met his family.


Additional updates:
Ivan, Ulysses, Eliana, Marshall and Asa have all been matched.
I have added Araminta and Anne into the prayer family.

Reece's Rainbow lost two children as a result of Eastern European institutionalization.

Sasha in Ukraine (2004-2013)

and Stacy in Ukraine (2006-2013). I advocated for Stacy in the past, so this was quite shocking and devastating. Both deaths could have easily been prevented, so both are a complete tragedy.

Coming up in May:
Caiden will turn 9 years old.
Thad will turn 6 years old.
Dakota would have turned 10 years old.

I will most likely be making a birthday post for Dakota in honor of his 10th birthday, May 1st. So, if you follow this blog, stay tuned if you want to read another emotional post about my sweet little boy. Thanks for stopping by.

Miette Skiller

I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I wish we could have found a cure in time.

10.19.2005-3.27.2013

A New Year

Well, here we are. 2013. A new year; a fresh start.

The Christmas trees have been taken down, the lights tucked away, the gingerbread cookies eaten and the eggnog downed long ago.

But the issues of 2012 are still very prevalent in 2013.

Take the turmoil in R*ssia right now: the ban was passed and will go into full effect in 2014. That means the parents in process with that country have a year to complete and get their children home, which is a blessing. Devastatingly, no new commitments will be made to this country for American parents. Canadians can adopt from certain few regions in R*ssia, but still, so many children will suffer endlessly from this.
An exception to the ban was suggested and still has to be passed or vetoed: the exception proposes that children with disabilities would not be affected by this ban; they could still be adopted by Americans. I am praying that this exception goes through.
A protest was held in M*scow over the last week. It was citizens protesting the adoption ban. Would you like to know how many R*ssian citizens showed up?

20-50,000.

That is incredible. Clearly, the R*ssian people do not want P*tin to ban adoptions to American families. They know what happens to their country's orphans. I highly doubt the R*ssian president has even stepped one foot inside of an institution.

So yes, even though the year is new, the issues have not been resolved. It is my new year's hope that 2013 will bring an end to the injustices happening every day in this country and others.

This is not what we had hoped for.

The proposed bill that would ban Americans from adopting from R*ssia has passed. President Put*n has already signed it. It's done. We can do no more but pray.

Please, if you're reading this, please pray for:

1. The thousands of orphans in this country, most of whom will now never experience a loving, warm family.

2. The families that are currently in process adopting from this country, many of whom will never get to hold their precious son or daughter again.

3. For the judges to make an exception for the orphans with special needs, and the orphans who already have families working hard to get them.

4. Supposedly this bill might take a year to go into full effect due to a treaty between the United States and R*ssia. Please pray that the president of their country stick to this treaty for the sake of the children and the families in process.

The future of these orphans in this country is now up to God alone. We advocates can do no more. We just have to trust that God will do what's best for everyone involved.

An unfathomable nightmare

For those of you readers who are familiar with my blog and the children I advocate for, these children are very dear to my heart. Travis, Caiden, Ralph and Donovan in particular, but all of them are very important to me. They're all legal orphans with disabilities living in the same country. This country is a beautiful one, although one of the most troubled countries in Eastern Europe. And right now, the government in this country is trying to pass a law that would ban Americans from adopting children from there.

This may not sound as bad to some, but in reality, this is a death sentence for many of the orphans in this country. Most of the adopted children from there are adopted by Americans. The children with special needs have literally no hope of being adopted within their own country. The treatment of disabled orphans there is horrendous: little to no medical care, harsh institutions where the children lay bedridden until they die. Children with disabilities are given up most of the time because the parents are led to believe that their child would do better in an orphanage than a family. Other times, children are abandoned for physical and mental disabilities. Once they are transferred to an adult mental institution at around age 4 or 5, they only regress. A horrifically large amount of people in these institutions die due to the inhumane conditions.

For the healthy and capable orphans, they live in an orphanage until they turn 16. Then they become unadoptable and are thrown out into the streets with nothing but a small amount of cash for food. These teenagers, who could not control the fact that they are alone in this world, become victims, statistics. 70% of the girls become prostitutes, 60% of the boys turn into hardened criminals. Another 10-15% of aged-out orphans will commit suicide by the age of 18. Another study reported that of the 15,000 orphans aging out of state-run institutions every year, 5,000 were unemployed, 6,000 were homeless and 3,000 were in prison within three years.

And it isn't just the healthy orphans that 'age out' at 16. The ones with special needs become unadoptable as well by that age. They will then live out the rest of their days lying down in cribs and wasting away until they die in their institutions.

This is a harsh reality that many orphans in this specific country face each day. And there will be almost no way out of this reality if the country's government passes this new law. We cannot let this law pass!

There are several ways that you can help:

1. Sign the petition HERE.

2. Read more about it. Educate yourself on what goes on in this country, and why this law should not be passed.

3. Pray. If you are religious, prayers and thoughts of goodwill can really go a long way.

4. Share. The more people know about this, the more likely it will be able to be stopped. Ask your friends and family to sign the petition, and become educated.


Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please, don't forget, the pictures of the children in this post are just a tiny handful of the beautiful faces that will be horribly affected by this law being passed. Without international adoption, these children have no hope.

December

It's a new month, filled with new blessings, tragedies and everything in between. Shall we start with the good news?

Adoptions

Hazel is now home with her forever family, the Fillmores! Congratulations, baby girl. Have a wonderful life!

Matchings

Calvin from New Day has been matched with a forever family!! So happy for this precious little boy. His new family has chosen the name David for him. I'm so glad that he has a family coming for him!!

In David's place, I will be adding...

Hudson! Isn't he a cutie? Love that little face!

Now there's also some sadder news.

Both Reece's Rainbow and New Day lost children recently.

Alan died on November 25th. He hadn't been at New Day for very long, just a few months. His death was sudden and very unexpected. He had no life-threatening conditions, so his nannies were all in severe shock when he died.

Sweet little Declan from Ukraine died on December 2nd due to medical complications. He had a wonderful family working to adopt him, and they are very heartbroken over his death.

Please send kind thoughts and loving prayers to the people who loved Declan and Alan. They need them more than ever.

Also, more prayers needed:

Christopher hasn't been doing very well. He was admitted to the hospital and diagnosed with pneumonia. Please pray that he heals up quickly! No baby this little should have to struggle for their life.

Well, those are all the updates I have for now. More to come!