Julia
Sadie
Libby back and front
Sunday, April 12, 2009
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Monday, April 6, 2009
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
I guess the real reason that my wife and I had children is the same reason that Napoleon had for invading Russia: It seemed like a good idea at the time. Bill Cosby
I have come to realise that I am trying to prove to one and all that there should be no doubt as to the fact that I can take on a huge challenge and remain certifiable crazy. I am not sure what it is in my personality that feels the need to prove that I am capable of doing something that seemed at one time to be impossible. I am sure you know where this is leading......I have added another 8 babies to Starfish and here I am to introduce them to you.
We got a really generous donation from a French charity in Shanghai, which allowed us to accept another 5 babies (which they have sponsored for a year). Then I got to pick another two babies to replace Lily and Jade and just for the heck of it another one. I did have five volunteers with me and they did get really excited and instead of five they chose eight, coupled with the orphanage workers were recommending babies which did not help either. Some of it had to do with the fact that we had a Canadian doctor and her family with us for more than a week and I thought she would be able to help. That she did and I am so grateful to her because it was like a crash course in pediatric medicine. Thank you so much Jennifer. The cleft home also has a Dutch volunteer who is a nurse, Elise and we recently added Lila, who bravely left her family in the US and is with us for two months.
I would be lying if I said that this was as easy as the first Starfish cleft babies. It has been a battle and to say my religion is wearing thin just about explains it. I think the fact the new additions have been so sick has really worn on me but I know from experience that after a few weeks everything settles down. I am seeing signs of it already. All I can think it that we will get through this and more children will have a chance to find a family so no matter what, it is worth it. We added two cleft palate babies and six heart babies. I am sure the Gao Xin Hospital across the road where we have the echos done to check the children's hearts will be happy to see us. Jennifer thinks that two of the children have serious heart conditions. We'll be seeing you soon Dr Li!!
The one thing I just loved is the fact that the orphanage took pictures for the finding ads before we even left the infant room. That means that the whole adoption process will move a lot faster. I feel so hopeful that the babies will have a greater chance to get adopted while they are young and we will be able to help a lot more children. We have 6 children who should have dossiers at the C2A2, another three need a medical to complete their dossiers, 13 have their finding ads placed right now and then the newly arrived babies should be starting soon. Hopefully this trend will continue!!!
So as I write, we have 36 children at Starfish. I am amazed at this number and I am so grateful for everyone who supports the babies and purpose of Starfish. There are some exciting things brewing, which makes me so hopeful for the future and for the fact that even more children will be helped.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 75 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a 20 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to North Carolina), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We currently have 36 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
I have come to realise that I am trying to prove to one and all that there should be no doubt as to the fact that I can take on a huge challenge and remain certifiable crazy. I am not sure what it is in my personality that feels the need to prove that I am capable of doing something that seemed at one time to be impossible. I am sure you know where this is leading......I have added another 8 babies to Starfish and here I am to introduce them to you.
We got a really generous donation from a French charity in Shanghai, which allowed us to accept another 5 babies (which they have sponsored for a year). Then I got to pick another two babies to replace Lily and Jade and just for the heck of it another one. I did have five volunteers with me and they did get really excited and instead of five they chose eight, coupled with the orphanage workers were recommending babies which did not help either. Some of it had to do with the fact that we had a Canadian doctor and her family with us for more than a week and I thought she would be able to help. That she did and I am so grateful to her because it was like a crash course in pediatric medicine. Thank you so much Jennifer. The cleft home also has a Dutch volunteer who is a nurse, Elise and we recently added Lila, who bravely left her family in the US and is with us for two months.
I would be lying if I said that this was as easy as the first Starfish cleft babies. It has been a battle and to say my religion is wearing thin just about explains it. I think the fact the new additions have been so sick has really worn on me but I know from experience that after a few weeks everything settles down. I am seeing signs of it already. All I can think it that we will get through this and more children will have a chance to find a family so no matter what, it is worth it. We added two cleft palate babies and six heart babies. I am sure the Gao Xin Hospital across the road where we have the echos done to check the children's hearts will be happy to see us. Jennifer thinks that two of the children have serious heart conditions. We'll be seeing you soon Dr Li!!
The one thing I just loved is the fact that the orphanage took pictures for the finding ads before we even left the infant room. That means that the whole adoption process will move a lot faster. I feel so hopeful that the babies will have a greater chance to get adopted while they are young and we will be able to help a lot more children. We have 6 children who should have dossiers at the C2A2, another three need a medical to complete their dossiers, 13 have their finding ads placed right now and then the newly arrived babies should be starting soon. Hopefully this trend will continue!!!
So as I write, we have 36 children at Starfish. I am amazed at this number and I am so grateful for everyone who supports the babies and purpose of Starfish. There are some exciting things brewing, which makes me so hopeful for the future and for the fact that even more children will be helped.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 75 children to date, arranged almost 50 surgeries and had a 20 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to North Carolina), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We currently have 36 babies under the age of 3 1/2 at two foster homes.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Mother's Day Bracelet Fundraiser for Starfish Foster Home
With Spring here and Mother’s Day approaching, we here at Starfish naturally start thinking about how wonderful it will be for our babies to have a mommy… and of course, we think about all the beautiful women in our lives that have helped us along the way…What a beautiful way to say Happy Mother’s Day with a Starfish Satin Wrap Charm Bracelet!
While our babies wait for their forever Moms, we’d like to make a special offer to you to give a gift that will dazzle the recipient while helping make it possible for more babies to get the help that they need.
Once again, the Ettika Company has made a special offer to help Starfish with these lovely pastel satin wrap bracelets. There are 10 different charms each 18K gold and individually dipped with an extra layer of protective coating. These are the hottest new pieces out there and they look great with just about any spring outfit.
The Starfish Happy Mother’s Day Bracelet costs $99. To order yours or have sent to a special person in your life please click go to our website www.thestarfishfosterhome.org and click on the “You Can Help” page.
Cynthia Klaja-McLaughlin
cmklaja@yahoo.com
While our babies wait for their forever Moms, we’d like to make a special offer to you to give a gift that will dazzle the recipient while helping make it possible for more babies to get the help that they need.
Once again, the Ettika Company has made a special offer to help Starfish with these lovely pastel satin wrap bracelets. There are 10 different charms each 18K gold and individually dipped with an extra layer of protective coating. These are the hottest new pieces out there and they look great with just about any spring outfit.
The Starfish Happy Mother’s Day Bracelet costs $99. To order yours or have sent to a special person in your life please click go to our website www.thestarfishfosterhome.org and click on the “You Can Help” page.
Cynthia Klaja-McLaughlin
cmklaja@yahoo.com
Monday, March 9, 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 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 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
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Orthodontic Molds
One of the reasons I did not hesitate taking on some cleft palate babies is because I found a dentist in Xian, who lives 15 minutes away from the foster home. Dr Niu is one of only two dentists in China that can make orthodontic palate molds for babies with cleft palates. He studied with Dr. Barry Grayson in New York and has had about 30 patients since he came back in 2002. Once I found out that he was able to do this, I knew that it would be easy for me to help the cleft babies even more. We now have now added seven more patients to his list in a matter of months.
There are four major things the cleft molds do:
1) It gives the baby a fake palate which allows them to drink better so they pick up weight easier.
2) It aligns the gums which are often in different positions and not only that but their cleft can leave a wide space in the gum line. In the first week of Karl's mold this gap closed the space 50mm which is half of the 100mm gap. You have to go to the dentist every week for an adjustment.
3) It gives also helps in speech development and will prevent any speech impediments because there is a roof of the mouth for the tongue to use.
4) Gives support to the nose so it does not fall flat.
Five of the cleft babies have started this process from the cleft home and there is another two up in regular foster home. I have been amazed by this whole process and how a child's mouth can change. Tina is growing like weed and had to have her mold redone because it had changed so much in two weeks.
I have been so grateful to Dr Niu for his work on the babies. Joseph's mouth now needs very little work. We now just have to wait for him to get big enough to get the surgery.
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 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.
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
NEW BLOG SITE FOR CLEFT HOME:
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Cleft Home Three Weeks Later
There are days that are just outstanding and yesterday was one of those days. You can see in black and white what you have done and how it has impacted the children's lives. Nothing is as dramatic as yesterday was. I hovered as Elise weighed an measured the cleft babies. I think the fact that I am tracking nine babies' progress is what made yesterday so incredible.
On February 5 we took on nine cleft babies as I am sure you might have heard. Since then, we have fed them when ever they wanted. The three older ones have been downing 50 oz a day and some days Bryan had 60oz. It was such a surprise to see because it is about double what they should be having. On top of that the three older ones are also on rice cereal, tofu and fruit and still they are drinking that much. Even little bitty Tina is drinking a lot more than what she should. I am ordering so much more formula than what I expected. It is a milk fest down there!!
So you want to know what the results have been for the last three weeks? There is some PHENOMENAL growth. Tina's head grew 3cm (1 and a quarter inches) since she got here. Bryan has grown 3.5cm (almost 1.5 inches) in length. The three older ones picked up about .50kg (1 pound) each last week. Collectively the nine babies have added 7 kg (15 and a half pounds) in weight, they grew 17 cm (6 3/4 inches) an my personal favorite: their heads grew a unprecedented 11.7cm ( 4 3/4 inches). I just think of all those brain cells forming.
I am one excited and proud mama who is so grateful that things have gone so smoothly. The nannies have all done a great job and the new ones are learning fast. It is a triumph for all of us who have contributed to their care: The nannies, the volunteers and the donors. Thank you so much. I hope this gives you warm fuzzies for the rest of the week.
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
On February 5 we took on nine cleft babies as I am sure you might have heard. Since then, we have fed them when ever they wanted. The three older ones have been downing 50 oz a day and some days Bryan had 60oz. It was such a surprise to see because it is about double what they should be having. On top of that the three older ones are also on rice cereal, tofu and fruit and still they are drinking that much. Even little bitty Tina is drinking a lot more than what she should. I am ordering so much more formula than what I expected. It is a milk fest down there!!
So you want to know what the results have been for the last three weeks? There is some PHENOMENAL growth. Tina's head grew 3cm (1 and a quarter inches) since she got here. Bryan has grown 3.5cm (almost 1.5 inches) in length. The three older ones picked up about .50kg (1 pound) each last week. Collectively the nine babies have added 7 kg (15 and a half pounds) in weight, they grew 17 cm (6 3/4 inches) an my personal favorite: their heads grew a unprecedented 11.7cm ( 4 3/4 inches). I just think of all those brain cells forming.
I am one excited and proud mama who is so grateful that things have gone so smoothly. The nannies have all done a great job and the new ones are learning fast. It is a triumph for all of us who have contributed to their care: The nannies, the volunteers and the donors. Thank you so much. I hope this gives you warm fuzzies for the rest of the week.
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
Thursday, February 12, 2009
6 Days in at the New Cleft House
"Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach." Clarissa Pinkola Estés Ph.DWhat a few days we have had! It has been truly memorable. The ability to know that there are children in extreme need and to be able to do something about that is just awesome. Thank you so much to those who offered me financial support. I could not have done anything about it was it not for your generosity.
It has been really busy as I am running between the fifth floor and the first floor. My apologies to those who have not heard from me. I am so behind in my emails.
It has been six days since we got the cleft babies. It has actually been really peaceful and calm. I was expecting much worse. I think my saving grace is the upstairs nannies are experienced and they know what I like and how I like to do things. The nine babies all got weighed, measured and bathed. We took lots of pictures.
We hired five more nannies and all of them did really well. They all have children and so they had the basic idea down. They just had to learn the Starfish way, which is unique in its own way, because it is the Chinese way mixed with the foreign and then true, tested and proven ways which do not fall into any of these categories.
For the first few days the babies are usually really quiet hardly any one cries. It takes a few days for them to realize that when they cry someone will bring them food, change their diaper or just hold them. Once they figure that out then the crying an fussing starts in earnest, which is exactly what has happened. I think this fussing so much healthier that all the silence in the beginning. The other thing I notice and that you can also see from the pictures is almost everyone is eating their hands. What a blessing it is for us to be able to relace that han with a warm bottle of milk.
One of the most exciting days after the babies come and for a few months there after, is to see how the babies grow. We weigh them every week and this a great way for us to see just how much they can expand. They grow like weeds. We usually have a winner of the week. They all did really great with in the first five days. In five days they picked up weight really well. Tina is struggling a bit and we had her at the hospital this morning.
I have chosen some of my favorite photos of the past few days to show you. I hope you can vicariously through us the experiences of these last few days. Thank you for your love and support.
Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Foster Home
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.
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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