Update on Aiden (Hosea) in Tennessee, Adoption 45

Hi Amanda! 

When I saw your update about Aiden's adoption, I realized I needed to send you an update myself.  The time has passed so quickly, and it just amazes me that we have been home now for 5 months.  But yet it feels like Aiden has always been a part of our family.  His adjustment has been so easy and natural.  I truly believe God knew he was to be our son.  He is understanding most of what we say to him, and is trying to repeat everything we say.  His speech is still hard to understand, but we catch a lot of things because we hear them all the time.  After he has his dental surgery, we will get him in to see a speech therapist, and hopefully that will give him the tools he needs for better communication.  He is just a joy to be around.  He is happy most of the time, and just seems to embrace life no matter what he is doing.  He still loves his brother and sister, and would prefer to be with them all the time.  He gets so excited when we pick them up from school in the afternoon.  He is definately a momma's boy though, and I think daddy is a little jealous of that.  He is still waking up at the crack of dawn to eat and play, so that's been a big adjustment for us.  He still loves to be outside, and I'm looking forward to spring so he can enjoy that more.  We've had lots of snow this winter, and he's had the flu and several ear infections, so he's been cooped up a lot.  Eddie's (his dad) family is planning a trip to the beach this summer, so I know he will love that.  We can't wait to introduce him to sand and the ocean.  We were excited to hear about your new home.  I hope we can visit someday when Aiden is older.  I want him to see what a wonderful life he had in China before we came to bring him home.  Thank you for giving him the chance to have a family, and us the opportunity to be his parents.  We are so blessed!  I'm attaching some pictures we had made last week.  As you can see, he is thriving.  Hope you are doing well.

 

Kelly

Adoption 45: Hosea (Aiden) to Tennessee

Hosea was a baby who arrived at Starfish on August 5, 2008.  He was very sick and the orphanage asked me if I would accept him.  He had a bi-lateral cleft palate and was already 3 months old and boy did we battle with him.  He was constantly in and out of the hospital. He missed a few surgery appointments because he landed up in the hospital with what the doctors though was pneumonia.  Just this past week I found out that that they were not right.  Is seems that there is a lung problem (atelectasis...small collapse of his lung).  His nanny at the time is the reason why he survived and thrived with us.  She took such good care of him.

In spite of all the initial problems, we did get him to grow and he did get his cleft and palate repaired, thanks to Rachel Smith, a British volunteer, who fell in love with him and raised funds for his surgeries. He was finally healthy enough to do the surgery in April 2009, when he was 11 months old.  I loved seeing Hosea smile because his eyes would almost disappear. So many people just loved him because he was not a grumpy baby at all and loved the volunteers.  Hosea loved playing outside and would not want to come home when he was outside no matter rain or snow. He loved being in the jumper and would jump in there until he fell asleep, refusing to be laid down in his crib.

We prepared his adoption dossier and then he learned that he had been matched with a family in Tennessee.  Hosea's new name was going to be Aiden and he had an older brother and a sister who had also been adopted from China.  Aiden's family came to get him in the early part of September 2009 and we were happy to see that he adapted well to his new family.  It seemed like he especially liked his brother. I love hearing how well the kids are doing and if you would like to follow the family blog, here is the site:  http://www.immeasurablymoreblessed.blogspot.com/

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 124 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 54 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and in China.  Our latest adoption was to Nashville, Tennessee in the middle of February.  We currently have 40 babies under the age of 3.  We MOVED on January 14, 2011 and now live in our "castle".

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

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

Sophia (Libby) Adoption 49

Hi Amanda,

It’s been just over two months since we’ve been home with our little girl and I wanted to send you an update so you’ll know how she’s doing. In a nutshell; fantastic! She has such an easy going personality and I think that has helped a lot in her transition going so smoothly. She sleeps like a rock, eats everything we put in front of her, loves to play with her siblings and always seems ready to do whatever is going on around here!

We’ve really been amazed at how quickly she began understanding what we’re saying to her. She was talking a bit before we got her (in Chinese, of course), and she still says some things in Chinese, but she’s got a pretty decent vocabulary of what she can say in English already, too. It’s been a good reminder that our children really do repeat what we say, and she is a great little mimic! Within a few days of being home, she started walking up to people saying “Hi Darlin’” – that’s the first time I realized I say that quite often. What I didn’t teach her was to call Rodney “Daddy Darlin’” – seriously, I don’t where she got that from, but it sure is cute!

She loves, loves, loves playing with Jackson and Elijah! She would be perfectly content just playing with them and their toys all day long. At first, the boys would bring her every toy they could think of to try to impress her, but… the honeymoon period has worn off for them and they’re not quite as eager to share all their toys anymore. She’s learning how to hold her own with them though, so it all works out fine. They all play together so well  – I just love looking over and seeing these three little precious gifts from God. At first, she called them both “JacksonElijah” as if they shared that combined name. So cute!

Madeline was her favorite person while we were in China, but once we got home and Olivia had a chance to start spoiling her, she’s decided she adores both her sisters quite a bit. She’s definitely never lacking for someone to carry her, play with her, or just sit and cuddle her.

We were so glad to be home in time to celebrate her 2^nd birthday and our extended family helped us make it a very special party. We’ve decided she was the 2^nd most important baby ever born on Christmas Day! Big Sophia even sent a special gift so she would have it on her birthday. This girl is so loved.

Our family and friends have been very supportive and honestly, I think she’s got every single one of them wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is smile and say “hi” and everybody just melts. She’s such a little charmer! Her grandparents gave us a big “Welcome Home Sophia” party and it was so wonderful to see all these people who are now her aunts, uncles, and cousins come to meet her and rejoice with us. Once she was an orphan, now she’s a member of a large family who loves her and think she’s so special!

Thank you, Amanda, for doing what you do. She is the precious, well-adjusted little girl she is because of the love she received in your home. You’ve made a HUGE difference in her life and we will be forever grateful to you for that. By the way, the hole in her heart is completely closed and we don’t even need to do any follow up appointments. How awesome is that?!!

Please let her nannies know that she’s doing well.

Blessings to you!

Rodney, Karee, Madeline, Olivia, Jackson, Elijah and Sophia

PS. I’m attaching some pictures for you of the past two months.

New Website Announcement

NEW STARFISH WEBSITE LOOK AND FEEL: Over the past 10 months we have been working on overhauling our STARFISH Website to make it easier to navigate and to provide more timely information on the home and our babies.  We have just launched it live this past week.   One of the comments that we have heard back from Starfish Followers is that you would love to see more and updated photographs of the babies.  The website gives us the capabilities to keep the site fresh.   We invite you to explore the new website at the same old address: www.thestarfishfosterhome.org You will note that we have a couple of new features on the Website: 1. Under the blog heading "Rising Star"  we will focus on one child's surgery at a time and follow that child's progress for one year after the surgery.   2. Under "Showcase" we will feature Starfish Alumni -- we will focus on one child at a time and highlight their achievements since being with their Forever Familiies. We will change the story every three months. 3. Under Success Stories -- we are looking for regular updates from the Forever Families on their Starfish babies current activities.   If you are a parent of a Starfish Baby and want to contribute to #2 or #3, please e-mail cmklaja@yahoo.com 4.  We will keep refreshing the news on our new housing project, fundraising activities, and ways that you can get involved. We hope you like the new look and feel of the Starfish Website. Thank you for your ongoing support Cindy Klaja McLaughlin

A Poem Dedicated to Amanda and her loving "help" on Valentine's Day

I’m a starfish in the sea

Of all human beings

Someone reached out and saved me

Now I’m a blessed with a family

It’s just as it should be at age four

I can learn, I can grow, and so much more

I can truly soar!

I can be anything because someone chose ME

I am thankful for the light

That someone lovingly gave to me

To let MY soul shine bright

Because someone chose to save ME

I have the gift of life

My story is lovely but I want people to see

There are MANY more starfish babies like me

In the Chinese Starfish Home of Life

The children are worthy of any fight

To keep them alive in that amazing space

It truly is a spiritual place

When I look back what do I see?

There are others waiting for a chance like me

Waiting for treatment and a family

They want to be found worthy

Of your love and care

They simply need YOU there

They want to live, learn, and grow,

And show the world what I already know

They are each God’s children

He loves each and every one

Please, if you can, let your light shine

Save these precious friends of mine

Please I ask YOU to light the way

And save a precious life today

I’m a starfish, I’m here today

Because someone chose to lead the way

Dedicated to Amanda and her loving help at the Starfish Home.  

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Adoption 44: Julia (Maria de Carmen) to Spain

Julia was one of the heart babies that we got on April1, 2009. She was already four months old and looked good for a heart baby  She was almost six kg (14pounds) and was eating very well. The first echo showed some abnormality with her heart, and the surprise came when we did the second echo to prepare for heart surgery some months later and it showed that the heart had healed.  So Julia was to be adopted ad a NSN (Non Special Needs) child.  I knew that she could be adopted to any place in the world and that we would most likely not have any contact with the family before hand.  All of our NSN babies all went to Europe.

Julia was so interesting to watch as she grew.  Her hair which was so short in the beginning began to curl, which is so unusual for a Chinese child. She and the other gang of girls learned to walk almost at the same time and played with each other so well.  One by one they all got adopted and soon there was no one left. 

After being at Starfish for 18 months she was adopted.  We had no idea where she was going.  On September 5th, 2010, the day of her adoption, we found out that Julia was going to the dreaded S country.  We called it that because all of the babies who went to Spain had families who did not want to have anything to do with us. This was no different. Since the adoption we have not heard any from the family so we have no idea how Maria de Carmen is doing. I thought is so interesting that she got the name of one of her best friends Carmen.  We hope that she is well and that she has attached well to her family and loving her new environment by now. It is kind of sad considering just how many people loved her at Starfish and how many would have loved some news. Some things cannot be controlled, no matter how hard you try.

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 124 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 53 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 adoption was Kansas in the middle of January.  We currently have 41 babies under the age of 3.  We MOVED on January 14, 2010 and now live in our "castle".

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

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

Gong Xi Fa Cai from Lia in Washington State

Gong Xi Fa Cai - Happy Year of the Metal Rabbit! 

I thought you would enjoy seeing some photos we took of Lia (Sophia) to celebrate Chinese New Year. She likes to get dressed up, and she was very happy to wear her new Jade necklace, which we bought for her while we were in China. Of course she would not smile when we tried to take photos! She was too excited and wanting to look at the birds in our front yard and play with her toys.

We saw her cleft surgeon for a follow-up appointment last week, and unfortunately her cleft palate repair did not hold the way he had hoped. She has a small hole in the very top of her palate, which will require further surgery in April. However, her hearing has improved greatly and she is starting to speak more and more. She also uses sign language to communicate many things. She will start speech therapy on Feb. 14.

For awhile she was waking up every night crying from night terrors, but she has finally started sleeping through the whole night and wakes up a happy girl. We show her pictures from Starfish, and pictures with you Ting Ting, and she kisses the photos and show us the sign language word for "friend".

She enjoys playing with her dolls and pretending to "cook" in her play kitchen. She pretends to "clean" everything, wiping down tables and windows, and using her play vacuum to clean up messes. She also enjoys singing and dancing. Almost every morning we wake up and hear her on the baby monitor, singing to her dolls in her bedroom. It is the sweetest sound!

Wishing you a happy and blessed New Year,

Julie, Steve & Lia

 

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 124 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 53 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 adoption was Kansas in the middle of January.  We currently have 41 babies under the age of 3.  WE MOVED on January 14, 2010 and now live in our "castle".

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

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

Happy Chinese New Year!!!

On February 3, the Chinese community every where will celebrate the lunar new year.

All of China comes to a complete stop.

There are firecrackers night and day and people eat and eat.

This year is the Year of the Metal Rabbit.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

Aaron

Amanda

Angela

Anna

Anthony

Bella

Cameron

Caroline

Celine

Charlotte

Chloe

Daniel

Elise

Emerson

Ethan

Isaac

Jack

James

Jane

Jessica

Joshua

Joy

Kaitlyn

Karl

Kathryn

Lexie

Malin

Matilda

Megan

Michelle

Mila and Sally

Morgan

Nava

Olivia

River

Ryan

Sally

Thomas

Tristan

Windee

Xander

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 124 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 53 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 adoption was Kansas in the middle of January.  We currently have 41 babies under the age of 3.  WE MOVED on January 14, 2010 and now live in our "castle".

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

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