THE ISRAEL FAMILY ADOPTION: February 2009

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

AVA IS OFFICALLY WALKING

WOW IT DIDNT TAKE LONG. SHE IS ON THE GO. SHE STARTED WALKING THURSDAY MORE AND NOW SHE IS ALL OVER THE PLACE.

ALL THREE KIDS HAVE THE SAME THING UNFORTUNATLY ALLEN GOT IT WORSE BECAUSE OF ASTHMA Mycoplasma pneumonia IS WHAT ITS CALLED. HE HAS MISSED ALL OF LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL AND NOT SO FAR THE LAST TWO DAYS. HE HAS BEEN SLEEPING SINCE 11 AM AND IT IS NOW 4 PM. I GUESS THE INFECTION IS REALLY TAKING IT'S TOLL.

AVA IS GOOD HER FEVER HAS SUBSIDED BUT SHE HAS A COUGH, & RUNNY NOSE
ZACHARY STARTED WITH HIGH FEVER LAST NIGHT AND NOW HAS A COUGH
AND ME I HAVE A COUGH. WE ARE ALL ON ANTIBIOTICS SINCE Mycoplasma pneumonia IS CONTAGIOUS. I CANT WAIT UNTIL WE ALL FEEL BETTER.
DAN IS GREAT HE HASNT GOTTEN IT YET !!!!! (YET IS THE KEY WORD)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Allen in the hospital

The last week Allen our oldest son had a fever, and cough. His fever broke on Thursday and we started him on anitbiotics but his cough has gotten worse.
Last night Dan & I went to his 10 year work banquet. We got home fairly early, but I had a little to much wine.
So this morning needless to say I was hurting alittle,
we were suppose to go to football but didnt make it instead we came to the hospital where Dan works and had Allen evalutated. He always get cough when the weather changes. Today he has a croupe cough but even with breathing treatments it wasnt subsiding. Poor Allen couldnt even get a breath in. So they did blood work and x ray. Allen's x-ray came back okay but his blood work showed signs of walking Pnemonia.
So Dan stayed with Allen from 11 am -5 pm while I took Zachary and Ava home then we switched. Now I'm at the hospital with Allen resting. He is doing better cough is calming down. I just hope he goes home tomorrow.

Best Wishes

April
PS Here is the picture from Last Night. It turned out good.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Ava is Walking..............

Well Yesterday Ava started to be more confident with her walking now she is all over the place. Today she is gotten even better with walking. She falls here and there but I think she will be walking and running in no time. Everything is good here. Dan and I are planning our renewal. Since we are getting married through our church this time we have to do Pre Marital couseling even though we have been married for 10 years, it doesnt hurt. I will post more soon.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Hi Everyone

Hope everyone is well. We are all good. Ava has started Speech therapy and will begin Physical therapy for fine motor skills tomorrow. She is growing so fast and really coming around. She has decided already to give me difficulty with eating, and has starting to decide what she likes and doesnt like. I have been having her watch baby einstein and she loves it.
Some days she will stand-up and try to take steps but then some days she just doesnt want to. She knows bye bye, hi. She says eyes, I ask her where her nose, eyes ears and hair are and she points, oh and mouth.
We are getting ready to do her post placement in April (ALREADY) Time is flying.

Dan and I have decided to renew our vows coming up in April. OUr 10 year anniversary is on the 10th but we dont know if we will have it that weekend or not. Of course its going to be kinda small, we are still trying to get our of debt from the adoption.

I will post more soon.

Monday, February 9, 2009

AVA AND FAMILY

HOPE EVERYONE IS WELL. WE ARE ALL GOOD. ALL OF US ARE GETTING OVER COLDS. WE HAVE HAD FOOTBALL NIGHT WITH THE BOYS. AVA JUST LOVES TO GO TO THE FIELD AND PLAY. SHE HAS STARTED A NEW THING TODAY. FROM THE CRAWLING POSITION SHE PUSHES HER LEGS UP STRAIGHT WITH HER HANDS ON THE GROUND AND GOES INTO STANDING POSITION. SHE HAS TRIED TO TAKE A COUPLE STEPS BUT SHE ISNT THERE YET. I SAY WITHIN THE NEXT MONTH SHE WILL BE OFF AND RUNNING.

TONIGHT WAS SO CUTE. DAN PULLED UP IN HIS TRUCK ( HIS TRUCK IS LOUD) WHEN EVER AVA HEARS A TRUCK SHE THINKS ITS DADDY AND STARTS WAVING AND GETTING EXCITED. WELL TONIGHT SHE HEARD HIS TRUCK AND I SAID DADDY'S HOME AND SHE DID THIS LOUD HURRAY SCREECH AND THREW HER BODY ON THE FLOOR AND DID THIS WHOLE SHOW OF HAPPINESS. THEN SHE GOT UP STOOD AND TOOK A COUPLE STEP TO DADDY. IT WAS PRECIOUS. ITS DAYS LIKE THIS WE ALL LOOK FORWARD TOO.
OH DID I TELL YOU SHE IS A DADDY'S GIRL NOW.

THINGS SHE LOVES TO EAT: PIZZA, FRENCH FRIES.
SHE TRIED COLD CEREAL TODAY AND LOVED IT.
WELL THAT IS ALL FOR NOW. ONE OTHER THING.

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE PRAYERS. TODAY WE FOUND OUT DAN'S STEPFATHER BILL HAS STAGE 4 LUNG CANCER. WE WILL KNOW MORE TOMORROW WHEN HE GOES TO THE DR. WHAT WILL BE DONE.
MY MOTHER IS DOING WELL. SHE IS STILL DOING RADIATION AND CHEMO.

DAN SAID SOMETHING TO ME TONIGHT THAT HE HAS SAID MANY TIMES BEFORE AND I DIDNT WANT TO HEAR IT. HE SAID "WE ARE ALL DYING". IT REALLY SUNK IN THIS TIME. COMING FROM A PERSON THAT WORKS IN THE ER AND SEE'S PEOPLE PASSING ITS LIKE HE IS NUMB TO DEATH. I DONT KNOW IF I CAN BE SO NUMB.

“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; ..”
I WISH EVERYONE A HEALTHY YEAR

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Time is Flying........ Fast

I cant believe Ava will be home 2 months on the 11th of this month. Time has gone by so quickly. This past weekend my sister Kris, Angel and my nephew Matthew came to Fl to visit. It was such a short trip but Im glad I got to see them and they got to meet Ava.

Its been really cold here is Florida, not like Russia of course but close enough. We went down to the 20's and 30's last night, that is COLD for Florida.
I cant wait until it gets warmer.

Dan and I are talking about Renewing our Vows since our 10 year wedding Anniversary is on April 10th. We are trying to payoff debt first.

My mother is doing good, but we were told the other day that Dan's step father Bill has lung cancer. Now for those of you that dont know Dan's father passed away when Dan was a teenager of Lung Cancer due to Asbestos. Please pray for our families.

Foreign adoptions down in Russia as foster care grows

Foreign adoptions down in Russia as foster care grows

Fewer Russian children are being adopted abroad, although the number of total adoptions in Russia is declining, figures show. The statistics point to a complex future for the country's orphans as the government struggles to implement additional means of foster care even as it tries to encourage more Russians to adopt.
According to the U.S. State Department, which released figures for the 2008 fiscal year, the number of foreign children adopted by Americans fell by 12 percent.
In 2008, there were 17,438 adoptions for abroad, while there were 19,613 in 2007. Much of this decline is due to fewer adoptees from Russia and China. Although Russia has not yet released statistics for 2008, the numbers from previous years confirm the trend.
There were 6,689 foreign adoptions in 2006, and only 4,536 in 2007 - a decline of over 30 percent - according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Education and Science, which is responsible for developing adoption programs and legislation in the country.
The United States is the chief destination for Russia's foreign adoptees - in 2006, American parents adopted 3,468 children, making up well over half of the total number of foreign adoptions.
But these numbers do not indicate that Russians are adopting more children. Of the adoptees, the share of those who remain in Russia has increased - from 7,767 in 2006 to 9,537 in 2007. But overall adoptions decreased in 2007 by about 3 percent. Indeed, the number of adopted children peaked in 2004 at 16,434, and has been declining ever since.
This is explainable by foster care programs. While adoptions declined, there has been a rise in the number of children in new, alternative foster care initiatives. While not adoptions formally, these included various kinds of foster care in which a child lives with a guardian or a family that is paid by the government. There are at least three kinds of foster categories apart from adoption. Although the government officially considers adoptions the best option for orphans, it has opted to develop these programs to bring down the number of children without parents.
Since 2006, more stringent laws regulating foreign adoptions have gone into effect. According to Yekaterina Bridge of the World Association for Children and Parents, that has meant more paperwork.
"In 2007, adoption agencies were getting accreditation based on new rules, and that has led to fewer adoptions," she told The Moscow News.
"The first accreditations were received only in June, 2007, and this caused a delay."
Explaining the decline in the number of adoptions, Bridge cited alternative forms of foster care, but noted that these forms had their drawbacks.
"Local officials in the provinces are wary of developing foster care because of the money issue. They fear children could be taken advantage of for the government subsidies."
While she said her agency was supportive of the government efforts to develop newer forms of foster care, she cited the latest figures for children without parents as "staggering."
As of December 31, 2007, 171,044 children were listed in the official adoption data base.
Officials acknowledge the need to encourage more Russians to adopt.
"Adoption is the top priority in placing children with families," says Alexandra Ochirova, who chairs the Public Chamber's Commission on Social and Demographic Policy.
"But the statistics do not show that the problem is being solved. Since not enough children are being adopted, other forms of foster care are being offered."
Ochirova does not believe that foreign adoptions will solve the problem, however.
"There are various points of view, and the interests of the child should be put first," she told The Moscow News. "But I believe that this problem should be solved inside the country. This doesn't mean we should have a ban on international adoptions, but considering the demographic situation, it would be good to make the population better prepared to adopt Russian children."
Ochirova says that raising awareness, advertising, and easing bureaucracy would lead to more adoptions. There are many Russians willing to adopt, she says, but they are daunted by the bureaucratic process.

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