Sunday, March 29, 2009
Seeing Flower
I left China for the first time in four and a half years. I was so stunned that everything seemed to come together for me to go to the US. The tickets were really cheap, I had some good people to take care of the babies, there was some Starfish business and I could meet up with some friends.
Between all the eating, visiting and scrapbooking (thanks Stephanie and Brittany) the highlight of my trip had to be seeing Flower. Angee and KG drove six hours to bring her to come and visit (Thank you so very much for that guys) . It was the first time I had seen a Starfish Alum since adoption and I was so enthralled at this beautiful child. I looked at her and my heart just swelled to know that I played a part in her life. I was so happy to see the result of all the hard work from the first year. How many times I felt on the edge of giving up and to know that it was all worth it. I could not have known just how wonderful her life has turned out but it gives me purpose to keep on going here and pray that other children will have the same kind of loving families as Flower has got. I saw so many of the things I noticed when she was a baby, the sweetest was her love for her sister. She loved babies when she was younger and that was still very evident. She also continued to be very affectionate and easily dished out hugs and kisses, and that is to say nothing about how smart she is. She will be celebrating her fourth birthday soon and has been with her family longer than what she was in China. What a triumph for any who helped while she was here.
I am sending some pictures I downloaded from Angee's blog. Yes, finally there is a picture of me, so no more reason to bug me about not posting pictures of myself. You know who you are!!!
Later today Jade is getting adopted and we are seeing another little starfish ready for her very own family. She is the oldest of the babies and Heather is now going to take over the queen bee spot. Jade is going to North Carolina and will have three sisters who have all been adopted from China. I hope in the future I will also be able to see her and witness the result of the hard work that we put into the babies, because there is no doubt that the early intervention makes a huge difference.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a 19 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to Maine), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. One child is matched at the moment waiting for her family. We currently have 29 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes. We opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
Between all the eating, visiting and scrapbooking (thanks Stephanie and Brittany) the highlight of my trip had to be seeing Flower. Angee and KG drove six hours to bring her to come and visit (Thank you so very much for that guys) . It was the first time I had seen a Starfish Alum since adoption and I was so enthralled at this beautiful child. I looked at her and my heart just swelled to know that I played a part in her life. I was so happy to see the result of all the hard work from the first year. How many times I felt on the edge of giving up and to know that it was all worth it. I could not have known just how wonderful her life has turned out but it gives me purpose to keep on going here and pray that other children will have the same kind of loving families as Flower has got. I saw so many of the things I noticed when she was a baby, the sweetest was her love for her sister. She loved babies when she was younger and that was still very evident. She also continued to be very affectionate and easily dished out hugs and kisses, and that is to say nothing about how smart she is. She will be celebrating her fourth birthday soon and has been with her family longer than what she was in China. What a triumph for any who helped while she was here.
I am sending some pictures I downloaded from Angee's blog. Yes, finally there is a picture of me, so no more reason to bug me about not posting pictures of myself. You know who you are!!!
Later today Jade is getting adopted and we are seeing another little starfish ready for her very own family. She is the oldest of the babies and Heather is now going to take over the queen bee spot. Jade is going to North Carolina and will have three sisters who have all been adopted from China. I hope in the future I will also be able to see her and witness the result of the hard work that we put into the babies, because there is no doubt that the early intervention makes a huge difference.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a 19 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to Maine), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. One child is matched at the moment waiting for her family. We currently have 29 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes. We opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Princess Party Donations for Starfish
Dear Miss Amanda:
I had a princess birthday party a couple weeks ago, to celebrate my 8th birthday. All the girls in my class, and a couple other girlfriends came to celebrate with me. We watched a princess movie, then we took a group picture and decorated some pretty frames (to put the pictures in).
Next, we ate some cherry chip cupcakes--after I made my royal wish, of course! Finally, we played three fun games. The first one was pin the crown on the frog. Next, we went on a treasure hunt by feeling in a bowl of rice for jeweled hair clip "treasures". Our last game was princess bingo.
The best part of my party, though, was opening the donations all my friends brought for your babies at Chinese Starfish. For your birthday today, I wanted to give you the "gift" of my birthday party donations. The total is.................................2,000rmb!!
I hope this gift makes you happy, and helps your babies at Starfish. My daddy will send it to you on the computer. My mommy helped me attach some pictures from my birthday, so you can see how much fun we all had!
I miss you and was wondering when you'll be coming back to Shanghai? I hope to see you
soon! God Bless you and your babies...
Love
Princess Alli
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
I had a princess birthday party a couple weeks ago, to celebrate my 8th birthday. All the girls in my class, and a couple other girlfriends came to celebrate with me. We watched a princess movie, then we took a group picture and decorated some pretty frames (to put the pictures in).
Next, we ate some cherry chip cupcakes--after I made my royal wish, of course! Finally, we played three fun games. The first one was pin the crown on the frog. Next, we went on a treasure hunt by feeling in a bowl of rice for jeweled hair clip "treasures". Our last game was princess bingo.
The best part of my party, though, was opening the donations all my friends brought for your babies at Chinese Starfish. For your birthday today, I wanted to give you the "gift" of my birthday party donations. The total is.................................2,000rmb!!
I hope this gift makes you happy, and helps your babies at Starfish. My daddy will send it to you on the computer. My mommy helped me attach some pictures from my birthday, so you can see how much fun we all had!
I miss you and was wondering when you'll be coming back to Shanghai? I hope to see you
soon! God Bless you and your babies...
Love
Princess Alli
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Friday, March 13, 2009
Norma Xi'an Update
Here is an update from Norma's mom. You can just see how in love they are with her and she with them.
Pat and I have been back in the States with Norma Xi’an since the last week in January. And, her amazing adjustment and loving nature is a testimony to the loving home she had at Starfish. She is a total cuddle bug and loves to laugh and play.
Norma Xi’an is the “belle of the ball” wherever she goes. I am in a grocery store or on the street and people do a double take at this cutie pie – everyone wants to know her story. She obliges by looking into their eyes, pointing her finger at them, and saying “bah.”
Pat and I are down at our home in St. Petersburg for a month or so and the retired people in our neighborhood are so excited to have her here… the out pouring of gifts and offers to baby sit have been overwhelming. All of our friends and neighbors have commented on how healthy and vibrant Norma Xi’an is. They all comment, “She must have been well taken care of.” Indeed she was!
Norma Xi’an loves to be outdoors in the sunshine – Pat takes her running with him in the jogging stroller and I walk her on the beach. We both enjoy taking her into the pool and she is turning into quite the water bug. She is extremely social and likes to go to restaurants with us…she is a very easy going baby and is learning to eat a broad variety of foods – her latest love affair is with grilled grouper and baked potatoes. She wants to feed herself using her fork and is getting really good at it.
Pat and I are astonished at how well Norma Xi’an is doing – it is like she has been here for 10 years! She has just jumped right in and claimed her place – and she has brought everyone who she has come into contact with great joy – especially us!
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a whopping 19 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to Maine), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We have one child matched at the moment waiting for her family. We currently have 29 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
We just opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and currently have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell Phone: 86.1348.812.4847
Pat and I have been back in the States with Norma Xi’an since the last week in January. And, her amazing adjustment and loving nature is a testimony to the loving home she had at Starfish. She is a total cuddle bug and loves to laugh and play.
Norma Xi’an is the “belle of the ball” wherever she goes. I am in a grocery store or on the street and people do a double take at this cutie pie – everyone wants to know her story. She obliges by looking into their eyes, pointing her finger at them, and saying “bah.”
Pat and I are down at our home in St. Petersburg for a month or so and the retired people in our neighborhood are so excited to have her here… the out pouring of gifts and offers to baby sit have been overwhelming. All of our friends and neighbors have commented on how healthy and vibrant Norma Xi’an is. They all comment, “She must have been well taken care of.” Indeed she was!
Norma Xi’an loves to be outdoors in the sunshine – Pat takes her running with him in the jogging stroller and I walk her on the beach. We both enjoy taking her into the pool and she is turning into quite the water bug. She is extremely social and likes to go to restaurants with us…she is a very easy going baby and is learning to eat a broad variety of foods – her latest love affair is with grilled grouper and baked potatoes. She wants to feed herself using her fork and is getting really good at it.
Pat and I are astonished at how well Norma Xi’an is doing – it is like she has been here for 10 years! She has just jumped right in and claimed her place – and she has brought everyone who she has come into contact with great joy – especially us!
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a whopping 19 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to Maine), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We have one child matched at the moment waiting for her family. We currently have 29 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
We just opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and currently have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell Phone: 86.1348.812.4847
Monday, March 09, 2009
A Very BIG Thank You
There is this marvelous story of a man who once stood before God, his heart breaking from the pain and injustice of the world. "Dear God", he cried out, "look at all the suffering, the anguish, the distress in your world. Why did you not send help?" God responded, "I did send help. I sent you." When we tell our children this story, we must tell them that each one of them was sent to repair a broken world and that this is not the task of an instant or of a year but for a life time. --David J. Wolpe
It has been a little more than one month since I got the cleft palate babies and it has been very busy as you can well imagine. Things are finally calming down a little and I feel that I need to write a thank you letter to all the supporters and donors of Starfish.
I do not have the adequate words to express my gratitude to you for the generosity that has been shown to the children and to me. To me, because I think in the response to my my plea for donations, it showed me that you trust me to use the donations you give in the very best way to help the children to get the care that they need, while we wait for them to get adopted. I cannot tell you how I appreciate the freedom to be in a position to be able to help a child in need. On a daily basis I can find children who desperately could use some intervention. To me, there is nothing as depressing as walking away, because I did not have the finances to be able bring them home with me. So you can imagine that when I can say yes to bring nine babies to Starfish, it provides me with wonderful feeling of joy. I completely understand just how much extra work I take on when I do this, it has not been easy and I have worked hard to stabilize us as we took on this huge responsibility at Starfish. It would have been much easier to have just kept one apartment. However, I do think of myself as a ship who has been sitting in the harbor for too long. Things have been calm for a while. This is not what ships are made for, they are made for the open sea. I think of the ship going out to battle the high waves and the storms and hopefully to return to harbor safely once again. Maybe I have just an overdeveloped sense of adventure, but I really like the challenge of having faced some tough times and to say that I was not defeated by it.
I hear so many stories of true sacrifice. I retired couple on a fixed income, teenagers giving US$10 of their monthly allowance and kids cleaning out their piggy banks. I think of some families going without dinner at their favorite restaurant, so that they could donate and help a child they have never met. I also think of those who have enough whose heart have been touched do donate. All of us work together on behalf of these children and I can feel the power of this united front so greatly. I am so impressed that is spite our differences whether they be religious, race or nationality, we have a common goal and that is to help an abandoned child in China get the chance to have the opportunity to be healed, be adopted and to have what we take for granted: A family. How privileged I am to have a front row seat, to experience first hand the good that is done with the donations that are sent. I hope that you too will feel a sense of accomplishment for the lives that are effected by what you have done and continue to do.
I pray Heavenly Father's richest blessings on you for your generosity and support. How I love what I do and how grateful I am for this once in a life time opportunity to spend everyday trying to figure out the best way to help the children in my care.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a 19 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to Maine), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. One child is matched at the moment waiting for her family. We currently have 29 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
We opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
It has been a little more than one month since I got the cleft palate babies and it has been very busy as you can well imagine. Things are finally calming down a little and I feel that I need to write a thank you letter to all the supporters and donors of Starfish.
I do not have the adequate words to express my gratitude to you for the generosity that has been shown to the children and to me. To me, because I think in the response to my my plea for donations, it showed me that you trust me to use the donations you give in the very best way to help the children to get the care that they need, while we wait for them to get adopted. I cannot tell you how I appreciate the freedom to be in a position to be able to help a child in need. On a daily basis I can find children who desperately could use some intervention. To me, there is nothing as depressing as walking away, because I did not have the finances to be able bring them home with me. So you can imagine that when I can say yes to bring nine babies to Starfish, it provides me with wonderful feeling of joy. I completely understand just how much extra work I take on when I do this, it has not been easy and I have worked hard to stabilize us as we took on this huge responsibility at Starfish. It would have been much easier to have just kept one apartment. However, I do think of myself as a ship who has been sitting in the harbor for too long. Things have been calm for a while. This is not what ships are made for, they are made for the open sea. I think of the ship going out to battle the high waves and the storms and hopefully to return to harbor safely once again. Maybe I have just an overdeveloped sense of adventure, but I really like the challenge of having faced some tough times and to say that I was not defeated by it.
I hear so many stories of true sacrifice. I retired couple on a fixed income, teenagers giving US$10 of their monthly allowance and kids cleaning out their piggy banks. I think of some families going without dinner at their favorite restaurant, so that they could donate and help a child they have never met. I also think of those who have enough whose heart have been touched do donate. All of us work together on behalf of these children and I can feel the power of this united front so greatly. I am so impressed that is spite our differences whether they be religious, race or nationality, we have a common goal and that is to help an abandoned child in China get the chance to have the opportunity to be healed, be adopted and to have what we take for granted: A family. How privileged I am to have a front row seat, to experience first hand the good that is done with the donations that are sent. I hope that you too will feel a sense of accomplishment for the lives that are effected by what you have done and continue to do.
I pray Heavenly Father's richest blessings on you for your generosity and support. How I love what I do and how grateful I am for this once in a life time opportunity to spend everyday trying to figure out the best way to help the children in my care.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a 19 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to Maine), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. One child is matched at the moment waiting for her family. We currently have 29 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
We opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
Monday, March 02, 2009
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Lily's Adoption---Number 19!
Well things are hopping over at Starfish.
The good news of the day is that Lily is adopted. Her dad, Mark is in China to get her with his good friend Dwain, while her mom stayed at home with Lily's older sister Rose.
As we always do the babies get a bath before we dress them for their families. This time we had a special little helper, Jade. I thought it was just so sweet that Jade helped prepare Lily for her adoption. I loved how she mimicked the nannies and the many baths that she has taken. We put Lily in a dress with some roses on it so she could think about her big sister even though she was not there.
I think the adoption is going well. As to be expected Lily has a few crying spells from time to time, but it is nothing out of the ordinary. I feel she is attaching well to her dad. I took some pictures in the taxi of Lily and her dad. I loved the picture of her father's hand over hers.
Poor Sean he is missing Lily something fierce. The first day Sean kept on coming to ask me where Lily was. He looked at her scrapbook over and over again kept on talking about her. He was so happy to see her when she came to visit. Jade screamed at everyone when Mark came to the foster home: Lily de baba.(Lily's dad). All the little faces turned to Mark and they all just stared.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a whopping 18 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoptions to Kentucky and New Jersey), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Two children are matched at the moment waiting for their families. We currently have 30 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
We just opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and currently have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
The good news of the day is that Lily is adopted. Her dad, Mark is in China to get her with his good friend Dwain, while her mom stayed at home with Lily's older sister Rose.
As we always do the babies get a bath before we dress them for their families. This time we had a special little helper, Jade. I thought it was just so sweet that Jade helped prepare Lily for her adoption. I loved how she mimicked the nannies and the many baths that she has taken. We put Lily in a dress with some roses on it so she could think about her big sister even though she was not there.
I think the adoption is going well. As to be expected Lily has a few crying spells from time to time, but it is nothing out of the ordinary. I feel she is attaching well to her dad. I took some pictures in the taxi of Lily and her dad. I loved the picture of her father's hand over hers.
Poor Sean he is missing Lily something fierce. The first day Sean kept on coming to ask me where Lily was. He looked at her scrapbook over and over again kept on talking about her. He was so happy to see her when she came to visit. Jade screamed at everyone when Mark came to the foster home: Lily de baba.(Lily's dad). All the little faces turned to Mark and they all just stared.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 67 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a whopping 18 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoptions to Kentucky and New Jersey), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Two children are matched at the moment waiting for their families. We currently have 30 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
We just opened a new cleft palate house on February 5, 2009 and currently have nine babies.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847
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