Lily Adoption 19 Living in Maine

Lily has had an amazing summer.  She continues to amaze us!!  We were at Wal Mart the other day and she saw some Pringles on a shelf.  She quickly told me "Those are Chinese and I have them at Amanda's House". (That is totally true)  It has been a 1 1/2  years since her adoption and she still loves on you Amanda and her buddies at Starfish.  It makes my heart smile and I know how deeply my girl loves - thank you for teaching her that!! She plays pretend and often visits Amanda as well as Saun's home :o)

Lily graduated from the Puggles program at church this past spring.  She walked up on stage and we received a big wave from her as we were sitting at the back of the church.  She was so proud to be on stage and we really had quite a time trying to get her off the stage. I had to include a picture of her cute little wave.

Lily and her sister Rose also became the proud owners of a puppy!!  The girls sure do love on him.  Lily loves to carry him around and treats Cuddles (the dog) like a doll.

Lily also made the transition to a big girl bed.  I had to send along a picture of her and her first night in the bed.  She wanted to go to bed VERY early that evening and she feels so grown up!!

Lily has made so many improvements medically.  We continue to reap the benefits of the excellent care she received at Starfish.  She is now fully potty trained.   We will start serial casting in a few weeks to lengthen her heel cord in hopes that her foot will move up and down.  As it is now, her foot stays in one position and for the past year we have been doing physical therapy to lengthen her heel cord.  The doctors hope that putting her in a cast, in the stretching position for a few days at a time, may lengthen her heel cord and surgery will not be necessary.  We pray that this works.  We know she will not like having cast on both her feet so please pray for me and that I might help her through the process.

Lily continues to delights us each day.  She loves her sister Rose so much and they are best buddies.  She has become a true Mainer this year and loves clams!!!  The girl loves seafood and we think a career on the lobster boat may be calling her!!

All our love,
Donna (for Mark, Rose and Lily too)

Adoption 2: Amanda in Iowa

I started STARFISH on September 13 , 2008 with 6 babies.  I referred to them afterwards as the original six.  Amanda was one of those babies. She came to us with some of the worst diaper rash I have ever seen. I remember being horrified at that and at the same time I had my first sight of Mongolian Spots.  I thought she had been abused because that is exactly what it looked like, bruises on her back.  Thankfully I was set straight soon.

Amanda was such a great baby.  She slept an ate well for the fist few months almost round the clock.  She was also born with her thumb and last two fingers on each hand and only two toes on each foot, a genetic condition called ectrodactyly.  I had never seen it and did not have a clue what she would be able to do.  The spit in her hands made it ideal for hold bottles which she did very early.  She sort of rested the bottle on her hands.  As for her feet, many people wanted to know if she would ever walk. I said: Let's wait and see.  When she got older her fingers would allow her to grip a spoon and eat by herself with out any problems and she set a record for walking at 10 months.  A records which still stands. In the beginning she had this wide leg football stance and she would bend her knees as she walked. As she got better she became more upright.

In December 2006, a year and a three months after she got here she was adopted by Mike and Amy and became the younger sister to Christen and Michael. If I remember they had the name Kate picked out for her and told me that they had changed their minds and that she was going to keep the name Amanda (Worthy of love).  It was one of the best adoptions that I ever had.  The last day when we were at the hotel before going to the airport, I hugged Amanda goodbye and as soon as I was done she held out her arms for her dad.  The transfer of affection was complete and my job was done.  After you have had perfection, mediocre adoptions are unacceptable.  

Soon after that Bethany joined their family as a result of an disrupted adoption.  Amy and Mike paid me a huge compliment by taking on a Spina bifida baby saying if Amanda could do it so could they.  (I hope I have the story right) It would seem the two of them are the best of friends. Amanda recently celebrated her fifth birthday.  Here is a letter from Amanda's mom:

Hello from Iowa!!!

Amanda’s 5^th birthday was last Friday (August 20^th).  I’m enclosing a few pictures of her and her friends from her party and a picture of her involved in her new favorite activity (swimming).   It is so hard to believe Amanda was only 15 months old when God entrusted her to us.  Time has flown and she has grown so much in the last 3 and a half years.  Amanda is very feisty (in a good way) and loves playing outside with her sister, Bethany and her friends, Alison and Eve.  She loves her black cocker spaniel, CiCi and she tolerates her older sister, Christen and brother, Michael.   Dora the Explorer is still tops on her list with Bolt running a close 2^nd.

Amanda became very aware of her beautiful brown skin last year and made up another “brown” family she said she belongs to.  She would usually talk about her other family when she was being disciplined or if things weren’t going exactly as she planned.  When pressed, she would say “I want to go live with my brown family, but everybody has to come with me”.    She doesn’t mention her brown family anymore, but it was a gentle reminder that people sometimes look at earthly shells rather than look at the souls of others.  It was also a great learning opportunity for all the kids about how we are a family regardless of biology or ethnicity.  Amanda has also become aware of the difference in her hands and feet.  The vast majority of her classmates are just curious and God has blessed her with very kind friends who marvel at what she can do with 2 fewer fingers on either hand.  She’s asked me on several occasions why Jesus made her this way.  Her honesty always catches me off guard.   I so wish I could tell her exactly what God’s plan was when He breathed life into her.  I do tell her that God knew her before she was even born and that He does have an awesome plan for her life and that I can’t wait for Him to show us the fantastic things she is going to do.   She seems excited about that too.   Amanda was a fighter from day 1.  She was abandoned, neglected, tossed aside and forgotten.  She persevered because God directed Amanda to her (her Angel on EarthJ) and HE DOES have an awesome plan for her and we are going to have the time of our lives discovering exactly what that plan is.

The Dobson’s

Life, Love and Laughter, 

Amanda

Adoption 33: Jasmine

On February 5, 2009, Jasmine came with a group of 9 babies to Starfish.  She became baby number 62 we had taken care of at Starfish.  She proved to be a real challenge for us.  Not only did she get sick often but she also had asthma.  It was a continual battle and hard work and I have to say that her nanny needs to be given the credit.  One morning while I was downstairs she stopped breathing and I went into a panic and I watched her turn blue.  I have to say that it felt like hours as I tried to resuscitate her.  Luckily the oxygen was right next to the sofa and I prayed as I started to do the chest compressions. Her nanny and I worked together and soon she was breathing again.  I was so grateful for God's tender mercies towards Jasmine and to me for being there and doing the right things to able to help her.  He answered my prayers and I was so grateful that I could see this child grow strong and see her being  adopted, knowing what had happened.

The one thing that stands out about Jasmine is the fierce love she had for her nanny.  No one could come any where close to her.  One day I was downstairs and Jasmine come over and sat on my lap.  I do not know who was the most surprised, me or the nanny.  After that she opened up so much and would allow other people to take care of her and to hug her. We had a really hard time getting her ready for cleft lip surgery.  When ever we thought it was time she would get sick and so it took a while before she had her lip healed. After the surgery she improved so much in all aspects.  She never became fat like other cleft babies did, but she became so much healthier.  So t hat scrawny little 3 kg baby (7 pounds) was adopted when she weight a whopping 10.8 kg (24 pounds)

Her parents decided to use Anliya as her new name and she is now living in Massachusetts with an older sister Jada.

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number:  20-4682916
Xian China

At Starfish, we have taken care of 118 children to date, arranged more than 100 surgeries and had 38 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and in China.  Our latest adoptions took place recently and now we have a fifth baby in Holland and our first baby in Washington State. We have also added baby another baby to our count in the Netherlands.  We currently have 51 babies under the age of 3 and three foster homes. We have fifteen  babies matched and we are waiting for their families to come and get them.

www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
Email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

Pictures of the "New" Starfish House.....HELP needed!

Volunteer needed!  Please contact us if you can help!

Life, Love and Laughter,

Amanda

Looking For Skilled Volunteers

After being in the same place for five years STARFISH has to move.  We have found a house which is really suitable for us, but needs some major work and we found out yesterday that we will be able to move in there, but before that happens we have to renovate.  In order to do that, I will need some major help.  Do you perhaps know a plumber, electrician, handyman experienced do-it-yourselfer that will be willing to come to China for a month or two and come and help us get this new place ready for the babies?  

Time is of the essence and I will need someone as soon as possible.  Nothing like having a plan and giving you a long lead time. As one of my favorite adages teaches:  IF IT WAS NOT FOR THE LAST MINUTE NOTHING WOULD GET DONE!

For all the people in China, do you perhaps know if any companies that do construction and decoration that would like to make a donation in China to Starfish, please put us in touch. We could even use samples of household products and appliances,  and we are going to need air conditioners for sure. If you can think of anything that could be useful to us, I would like to know.

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number:  20-4682916
Xian China

At Starfish, we have taken care of 118 children to date, arranged more than 100 surgeries and had 38 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and in China.  Our latest adoptions took place recently and now we have a fifth baby in Holland and our first baby in Washington State. We have also added another baby to our count in Holland.  We currently have 51 babies under the age of 3 and three foster homes. We have fifteen  babies matched and we are waiting for their families to come and get them.

www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
Email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

Adoption 30: Karine, Our girl in Canada!

There are two parts to this update.  One was written a week after Karine got home and the last part just arrived today. I got a note which said that reading my blog was as exciting as a soap opera and that she loved reading how the babies were doing with their families.  I do love it when the families take the time to write and tell us how "our" starfish babies are doing. Thank you so much to the parents who are willing to share even though they do not have to.  I love knowing how much our hard work blossoms in their forever families.

We have been home for a week now.  Karine is doing great!  We feel so blessed to have her part of our family.  It broke our hearts to see her so sad the first few days but now she is so happy and full of life.  She loves to laugh and play.  She is so easy going and such a smart little girl.  She already understands a lot of what we say to her.  She loves to play with her doll and little stroller.  She loves spending time outside.  Martin is building a play structure in our backyard so I'm sure she'll enjoy that!  She loves coming for errands and especially at the grocery store where there are some singing cows.  I know that I've told you this before but I need to tell you again how grateful we are for everything you have done for her.  I know that those last 2 weeks were very difficult for you as you had gone through 4 adoptions so close together.    

I went through the CD that you had put with the package and I could not believe the amount of pictures and even videos that you had taken of her!  Words cannot describe how much they mean to us.  I cried (tears of joy) when I saw the envelope containing strands of hair from her first haircut.  God was certainly looking over her when he put her into your care.  The great care she received was even more evident when we saw the other children from our travel group.  They looked sick and malnourished. 

   http://voyagepourkarine.blogspot.com

Dear Amanda,

Well, it's hard to believe that we have been home 3 months with Karine (Antonia)!  She is doing wonderful!!  What a joy she is to our family!   We could not imagine our lives without her.  She is starting to say a few words.  She is so good communicating with her hands!  We have no trouble understanding her.  She loves to help me with the household chores and loves to imitate what we do, especially her big brother.  She likes to do things on her own.  She's very independent for her age.  She LOVES animals, especially horses and cows!  Dogs as well, as she tries to touch them when she sees one.  When we first got home, she was afraid of the sand.  She didn't want to play in the sand box or walk in it at the park but when we went to the beach, her eyes lit up when she saw the water (she loves the water!) then, she didn't mind walking in the sand.  She actually played in it with her brothers.

She loves to laugh and play with her little tea set.  She doesn't like to be told no and will stomp her feet and not move an inch but we manage to distract her quite easily.  She has grown over 2 centimeters since we've been home and her hair is getting longer.  I've attached a few recent pictures of her. 

I hope everything is going well with all of you and will keep you posted on how she's doing!

God Bless,

Nicole and Martin      

A Will Update....Starfish Adoption Number 13

Hi Amanda and Everyone at Starfish~

Wow…you all have been very busy with all the new babies, surgeries, and adoptions.  You amaze me with everything you have accomplished!!!!

Will is doing excellent!  His first year of preschool, which ended in June, has helped him so much.  His teachers said they couldn’t believe the changes in him from the beginning of the school year to the end.  The first week of school was extremely hard.  He would cry everyday, but a little less as the week went on.  It got easier, as he realized I was coming back each day.  By the end of the year, he was sad school was over.  He made some really good friends and learned so much!!!!

For now, Will’s surgeries are over.  He will be meeting soon with his ENT and Speech Pathologist to test for a small hole in his palate.  His speech is a little nasally, usually resulting from the hole.  That would be his next surgery, along with some minor cosmetic surgery to straighten his nose and take a little fullness out of his top lip.  After that, the dentist will put an expander in his mouth around the age of 7 to prepare him for his bone graph, to make the hard palate.

This summer we went to Panama City Florida.  Will loves the water so much!  We had lots of fun playing in the sand and in the ocean. 

On July 5^th, I took Will and Griffin to the SPCA (dog pound) to adopt a dog.  They chose a German Shepherd/Beagle mix.  She was 7 months old when we got her.  Her name was Star.  I asked the boys if they wanted to change her name and they said “no”.  It wasn’t until the way home that the connection occurred to me….Will lived at Starfish, and then adopted a dog named Star.  We all thought that was very cool!  Will has been having fun taking care of her.  It’s very cute to see the way he “mother’s” her.  It’s crazy when I think how completely terrified he was of dogs just two years earlier.

I haven’t had a chance to upload any photos of Will’s birthday party, but he had a great time playing with all his cousins.  The entire extended family came over and we had a “Chinese buffet”, cake and ice cream. 

Recently Will has started telling his “adoption story” to family members.  He says “I was born in China and the girl couldn’t keep me so Manda and Hong Li took care of me until my mom and dad came to pick me up.”…..Sounds so simple coming from a child.

Will starts school again in a few weeks.  He’s been keeping in touch with a few friends from his class throughout the summer.  I’m hoping this will help ease him into the school year.

Good luck with all the surgeries and babies in China.  You are always in our thoughts and prayers!

Love,

The McMahan’s

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number:  20-4682916
Xian China

At Starfish, we have taken care of 112 children to date, arranged more than 100 surgeries and had 36 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and in China.  Our latest took place recently and we now have another baby in Virginia.  We have also added another baby to our count in Holland.  We currently have 47 babies under the age of 3 and three foster homes. We have fifteen  babies matched and we are waiting for their families to come and get them.

www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
Email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

More Cleft Mission Pictures!

James

James and River on the train

Joseph post op

Kathryn

Kathryn and Angela

Olivia

River