Birthday Week Featured Child: Mirabel

Dearest Readers,

It is now, officially, our birthday week. Woohoo!

 Our birthday is Friday, I have my theater class's show Saturday, and then it's Easter! I will be blogging about the festivities once they are all said and done. But today it is time for you all to meet....


Mirabel.

Mirabel means "wondrous", or of wondrous beauty. Definitely
an appropriate name for this beautiful girl!

About this time last year I wrote this post about an orphan in Eastern Europe who, like me, was about to turn 16.

I knew I wanted to feature another waiting child this week, but who? An April baby? Another 16 year old? Instead, I picked a four year old born in August.

That smile. So precious!

Mirabel is four years old. In her country, this means she will be transferred to a mental institution soon. Soon she will be taken away from the only home she has ever known. She's only four years old. Most four year olds in America don't cross the street without a parent's hand.

 Adoptive families are called forever families for a reason. Mirabel's whole life has been unstable. Nothing has been constant. When she is home with her family, though, the same person will wake her up every morning. She won't cry alone after surgeries. 

A family that met her last year said the following: 

” We saw Mirabel this morning.  She is in the laying down room.  The nannies were carrying them outside.  She can’t hold her head up, support herself, sit, or stand.   It looks like she has no control over her legs at all…flopped to the side when the nannies carried her. She does, however, have good use of her arms.  She kept reaching up to try to touch me.  I gave her a set of the rings to play with.   She was SO happy to have something to play with. She kept smiling at me. I really think that there is a smart, aware little girl in that broken body.”

Will you please pray for Mirabel this week? Pray that she will get to celebrate her birthday with her family one day. 

If you would like more information on adopting Mirabel, please go to her profile at http://reecesrainbow.org/?s=mirabel. 

Your Blogger,

 Claire

Beautiful news!! Reece's Rainbow waiting child

Do y'all remember Sebastian? I posted about him ten days before my birthday. 

I talked about how his birthday is about a week after mine.

And how if he didn't have a family by then...

he would never have one.

WELL guess what? 

SEBASTIAN HAS A FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"....Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning." ~Psalm 30:5

I'm so thankful morning has come for Sebastian. May the Lord bless and strengthen his family as they work to bring him home, and protect his heart as he waits! I'm so thankful that his 16th birthday will, despite the odds, be filled with joy. Thank you, Jesus. 

http://reecesrainbow.org/57191/sebastian

What's it like to be a triplet?

Whenever someone tells you "Happy Birthday", you automatically respond with "Happy birthday to you, too"....

Because in your house, that's generally an appropriate response. :) 

So Happy Birthday week, Benjamin and Mason! I'm so thankful to be your triplet!

And to the rest of you, who are NOT celebrating a birthday this week; I'm sorry. No, just kidding--a very merry UNbirthday to you, dear readers! 

Ten days...

In just ten days Benjamin, Mason and I will be sixteen years old. 

Just eight days after that, this young man will turn sixteen. 

So close in age...

and yet our stories are completely different.

He lives in an orphanage in Eastern Europe...

I live with my loving family...

His birthday means he no longer has a chance of having a family...

My day will be spent celebrating with my parents and siblings...

"16" means homelessness for him....

It means getting to drive and volunteer at Phoenix Childrens' Hospital for me...

Please be praying for all of the orphans who will be turning sixteen this year. Please pray for protection of their hearts and bodies. Please especially be praying for Sebastian. He will be on my heart all month. 

Benjamin, Mason, and me!

 

Dear Readers,
 
   I love celebrating birthdays! Our birthday is next Wednesday. However,   I just got the sweetest birthday present and wanted to blog about it! :)
  My sweet NICU nurse and her family came to visit these past two days! It was such a gift.

  Just to backtrack, Benjamin, Mason, and I were born at 28 4/7 weeks...Benjamin weighed 2 lbs 15 oz, Mason weighed 2 lbs 5 oz, and I weighed 2 lbs 11 oz.  Hearing about my mom's pregnancy makes me feel so guilty--she did so much for us! Her story is amazing..hop on over to theblessingcounter.blogspot.com to hear it. : )  We appeared on the scene  April 18th, 1997.

  My mom, however, didn't get to see us right away. We were whisked away to the NICU, to doctors, medicine, and...sweet nurses! Laura Curatolo was my primary nurse. I don't remember my days in the NICU, but I have seen so many pictures...

From my mom's scrapbook :)

Nurse Laura put oxygen in my water so Mom could give me a bubble bath!



  Our family has remained in contact with Nurse Laura since our NICU stay (which means our birth!! So very cool.) , and it has truly beeen a gift. Nurse Laura and her husband, Mr.Jay, encourage me so much...they are such blessings! I can't even tell you how much I appreciate having a relationship with them through all these years..because I find it amazing and so special.  I loved getting to see them and meeting their dear children.

And today!

Before my baby dedication...

  We're now almost 15 years old... There are babies, I know, who were in the NICU just like we were  who didn't ever get to reach 15 years. So I have decided that I will never, ever get to a point where I will talk about my birthday as "I wish I wasn't another year older" or (as an adult) tell kids I won't tell them my age because it's rude.  I want to always be able to say "Wow, God, I can't believe You gave me the gift of LIFE. Thank you for letting me live to be ___ years old!" And I will always thank Him for the people who helped me get here.

  Your Blogger,
 Claire

 




 

Birthdays...

Dear Readers,
  I am so sorry for not posting for some time!! Life has gotten in the way. But let me assure you - good things in life have gotten in the way!! It was our birthday on the 18th, and it was amazing. absolutely. amazing. really, it was!  I am so thankful my mom endured all she did to give us life!
  Let me start at the beginning...

 We started to celebrate on Sunday, and got Krispy Kreme doughnuts for breakfast. We had a lovely, lazy morning, watching the Brady Bunch, going swimming, and having fun together. Mom, though, spent a large amount of time on the computer--which is unlike her. Hmm...    

   

 Day two of the birthday celebration: It's our birthday!! YAY! I got up early and the boys and I had some triplet bonding time before anyone else woke up. (We made sure to make enough noise to wake up others, though- it's just SO hard to wait!)  And then - we were walking the birthday mile. Through the hall, into the kitchen and -gasp- what was on the table??? Cards from grandparents and  two flat pieces of white paper. 'hmm' again...
   Let me cut the dramatic outline and get to the climax---  WE GOT A FACEBOOK ACCOUNT! 
  Yes - Mom and Dad gave us a facebook account! And we had not one friend, not two friends, but more than  one hundred friends apiece! We had profile photos, and all our sweet friends had written on our wall for our birthday, and Mom's post talking about  a 'Facebook Surprise Party' was at the top. OOOHHH!!!
   It was so much fun. And it STILL is so much fun! (Even though in the past two days I've spent WAY too much time on there..)


I cannot WAIT for our tea party...

    Any way, we then went to the musical instrument museum! And I got to play the piano in the lobby for all to hear. Amazing, again! I played my 'Sonatina in C major', which is my song for my recital. It was fascinating to see all the instruments, and the 'experience room' was such fun! I encourage all you Arizonians to visit...   
 Then we opened presents. I got an invitation to tea at the Tea room with Mom and Cate! Needless to say, I am exhilerated and cannot wait! AND, I will be taking a sewing class at JoAnne's in May. I am simply DYING to learn to quilt, but first I must learn to use a machine. So now I am DYING to make a pair of shorts, as well, so thankfully I will be doing that in my class!!   The boys will be going to a Newsboys concert with Dad and Len, which they have been wanting to go to. So, we really got lots of great experiences for our birthday - which I love! The good memories of your life experiences are something you can take with you where ever you go.
  And we definitely made a lot of great experiences on Monday. Thank you to all of you who helped to make our day so special with your sweet Facebook messages!


 With love and joy,

 Your Blogger Claire                                             

I love this hot pink sax and ornate violin!

We sponsor a boy in Uganda, and we loved seeing the instruments from his homeland!

'Mom-I want to learn to play the frying pans!'

It's so hard to be the only kid to not have a birthday...

I loved seeing all the parts of a piano!

Can you guess how to play this instrument? You put it on your bottom and shake,shake, shake!