I do want to say that we have been blessed by several very generous people who have given to our family through our church. So far we have kept that in a fund for Selah until we need it and haven't used any of it. Our thought has been to wait and see what is the most necessary thing for her and use it towards that. So if you want to give towards Selah's fund, you can send a check to our church...Grace Church 7060 Berry Road Zephyrhills Fl 33540...just mark it Selah's fund or Clanton family and it will go into a fund for her. I think our priories right now are her HBOT therapy and a new van.
I did like the way Selah can sit her bottom all the way back into the seat and her legs/feet looked really comfy. Her heart rate was in the 80's sitting up in it so that is great. It's just another piece of equipment to get used to.
Last night she had a wonderful night...her pulse/oxy machine did not....it wouldn't stay on her finger! But she never woke up and didn't need any meds:) Actually the machine only woke us up twice, not too bad!
Poor Steve is sick now...only me and Shad are still standing!! I'm eating Vitamin C!
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right by our apartment
City bus
Russian Orthodox Church
their new sanctuary
this was an old lady cleaning the church on Saturday I LOVE this picture....I feel like her some Saturdays here LOL!!!
Bell Tower
the priest's house or the parsonage (like what we live in )
Is this a cool picture or What???
I like this picture
Right by our apartment
two little friends out walking
So a year ago today, was a Sunday for us and we were just walking around Torez.
Here are some of the pictures of the girls we saw before we met them
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Selah
Sarah at the baby house
Selah and her worker
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Selah in the crib
these funny pictures of Selah with her tongue out....she was in a ball pit.
Selah
One thing I was going to say for anyone who reads my blog and adopts from Ukraine....it is CRAZY...Eastern Europe adoptions are crazy and stressful BUT take advantage of the time between court and taking custody of the child We saw the girls every day. Some families fly home during the 10 day wait (10 BUSINESS days) But I hate to fly and it was cheaper to stay but more than anything it was GOOD for the girls. When it was time to leave, they knew us and we knew them. I wouldn't trade those days for anything.
There were MANY differences between adopting from China and adopting from Ukraine and the BIG one was the time frame spent in country. When I first heard SIX weeks...I thought we could NOT do that but I was already too in love with Sarah to back out at that point! BUT those SIX weeks were so good! I believe the girls learned to trust us and to know we'd be there for them. Our love grew and theirs did too....yes it was hard, yes it was inconvenient ...no doubt but I'd advise any family to go and just camp out there...don't be worried about ANYTHING but spending time with your new child(ren) it was the best thing ever for them. I don't know of anyone who was blessed to be able to see their kids almost daily even during holidays and we took advantage of that to grow closer with them. We truly feel that made such a HUGE difference in our transition home with the girls. When I say we had no problems...we truly had no problems.... It was amazing....and reading other's stories, the only difference was the amount of time we spent with our girls. So if you do adopt and you can possibly stay, STAY, even if you are at a place that is as easy to work with as our girls' institution. I believe as much time as you can invest, it will make it easier for everyone on the way home and adjusting at home.
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So please keep praying for Selah...please pray that she is healed and doesn't need all these things that remind us again how much things have changed....Pray that she comes back to us....all the way....
Heaven forbid you do the responsible thing and pay for the van yourself!! A deity should provide everything to you!!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteWe look at everything we have as coming form the hand of the Lord whether we save for years to buy something or it is given to us. We do not live on credit at all, since we had to go to one income when Sam was born. A new van is something we'd save money for and pay for when we bought it in a normal situation. This is something that is becoming a need for Selah. We did not anticapte needing a van for her so soon but it is getting to the point, that is not good for her, us or a caregiver to try and put her into a car seat. So we will trust God in this and I'm really not ashamed to admit our need for His help
DeleteI did a quick internet check and found millenniumangelfoundation.org in Tallahassee for grants. I will check more tomorrow after work for more.
ReplyDeleteLord willing, my thoughts of you will be closer to you in the end of June/early July, as we'll be visiting St. Pete. Blessings to you!
ReplyDeleteYvonne, I continue to enjoy your trip down memory lane. And I continue to pray for Selah and all of you.
ReplyDeleteI have read many of your posts about Selah and how she was strapped down to a bed and neglected at the baby house and mental institution, but I have to say that she looked so happy and well taken care of over in the Ukrane. There are tons of toys and her caregiver looks so kind and loving, she is dressed super cute and comfy and looks clean and well fed - she looked so much better there than she does now. 'Living' in a state of pergatory trapped somewhere between not really being alive and not really being dead. That poor little girl would have been better off being left at the institution. Your 'God' definitely works in the most evil and inhumane ways
ReplyDeleteSarah was our daughter who was strapped to a bed and to this day has a flat head from the results of that. She also is just now learning to walk althought there is nothing wrong with her, other than being neglected.
DeleteSelah did have pictures taken of her in a room filled with toys. that room was used for pictures. She had NOT a clue how to even play with a ball when we adopted her. We sat across from that "play room" for 6 weeks, we saw 3 children go in there.....
She did have a wonderful caregiver who was with her for a few hours a day THANKS to a MINISTRY that paid for her services. She was NOT an worker that was paid for by Ukraine but rather paid for by Christians who care about orphans. Selah had had a individual caregiver for just a few months before we came to get her.
Both girls were terribly underweight when we adopted them. Selah weighed 30 pounds (she was almost EIGHT years old) and Sarah at 5 1/2 weighed only 21 pounds.
Selah now weighs almost 50 pounds and Sarah 35 pounds. Sarah would probably weigh more BUT she was never taught to chew food and can only eat pureed foods now. Although we have her in therapy to try and learn that skill
Neither child could talk nor were they potty trained.....Selah was diagnoised with instituional autisum....it wasn't because she was being cared for ......
YES sometimes I wonder WHY their adoption went so smoothly....for such an accident to happen to Selah. But I do know we give her everything she needs and she is not in pain, she is well fed, she has us and a nurse to meet every need. I don't understand everything and I do make myself vulerable by being open on my blog. After reading this Steve, maybe you might have second thoughts about your comments.....
And to also point out ot you, if you continue reading my blog and looking at pictures, the girls wore the same couple of outfits every day for 6 weeks, you can't smell the smell there...and I can't describe it. I know from eye witness accounts that Selah was left in a bed before she had a caregiver (paid for by Christians) She didn't walk until a few months before we came and she did not walk good. I never saw her walk more than across the room, until we got her home and even then she could only walk maybe 20 feet. (there was nothing "wrong" with her as an 8 year old.....she had never had the opprunity to walk much)
DeleteWe had dental surgery for Selah, 8 teeth pulled, 6 filled....
Sarah had scabies so bad, that it wasn't even contagious, it was so in her system, she still struggles with it almsot weekly now even with medications.
Just like with any child who is invovled in any kind of accident, it is a tragedy like no other...BUT if she had been our biological child, would had having the accident made you question why she was born?? What is there about her being adoptive that you question like that? Our biological son was also in the accident and although they both were rescued and revived, for some reason he suffered no long term reaction. (he did respond better than Selah from the beginging and we don't understand why)
Your response is the first negative one I've had (I post everything unnless someone is trying to put a business site on my blog) It's funny because so many others have said the very opposite of what you wrote. Many are thankful that she has a family....her life expectancy was less than adulthood where she was at, given her level of delays. (I think for any orphan in Ukraine they ahve only a 50% chance of living to 18 per some statiscts I read Special needs kids who have NO self care skills....I am SURE the statict is so much lower....)
I dont' know what the future will hold for her, but she is promised to have the very best of care for the rest of her life. She won't lack anything....and she will have a family who cares for her. No one is promised a life without pain....another family who traveled with us, when they came home, their newly adopted son was diagnoised with cancer....he has endured a year of treatments. Would it have been easier for him to have stayed in an orphange? For the most part, yes, he would have died but wouldn't have suffered all the treatment.
Of course an accident is worse in the sense you wish you could have prevented it and your mind goes to all the ways things could have been different.
I don't have all the answers but those are some things for you to think on....
I am praying for you and for sweet Selah.
ReplyDeleteI work in an MDS room in PA and from what I know is the state will pay to have a vehicle accessible for a child. Call you local school district and speak with someone in special education. There are all type of services available. The nurses who escort the children in our room are usually the advocates for the children and know the ins and outs. The nursing service that you use may know this too especially if they have nurses going to school with medically challenged children.
ReplyDeleteI've asked all Selah's therapists and nurses as well as the man who brought her her wheelchair and no one knows of an agency in florida that does anything like that. florida doesn't have some of the programs some of the northren states have.
DeleteI work in an MDS room in PA and from what I know is the state will pay to have a vehicle accessible for a child. Call you local school district and speak with someone in special education. There are all type of services available. The nurses who escort the children in our room are usually the advocates for the children and know the ins and outs. The nursing service that you use may know this too especially if they have nurses going to school with medically challenged children.
ReplyDeleteI think I can understand how you are feeling about her wheelchair.....I know this sounds dumb but when my son got glasses at 8 mos old, I cried. I thought he looked adorable, but I hated he needed them so young and was terrified what ppl would say about him. Fortunately most were nice (except one woman who kepty "pitying him" I wanted to smack her!)
ReplyDeleteI am going to be working on grant writing for some non-profits--if you find the information, I would be more than happy to work with you on writing grants for anything--new van, new house, etc. I can't help financially--but this I can do :)
Lots of love and prayers xoxo
sorry if this posts twice! Still having problems trying to comment....
ReplyDeleteI think I can understand how you are feeling about her wheelchair.....I know this sounds dumb but when my son got glasses at 8 mos old, I cried. I thought he looked adorable, but I hated he needed them so young and was terrified what ppl would say about him. Fortunately most were nice (except one woman who kepty "pitying him" I wanted to smack her!)
I am going to be working on grant writing for some non-profits--if you find the information, I would be more than happy to work with you on writing grants for anything--new van, new house, etc. I can't help financially--but this I can do :)
Lots of love and prayers xoxo