Saturday, March 5, 2011

Round 9

The light at the end of the tunnel is now in view!!  Yes it is!!



Check out this boy standing on his feet!!  The right foot is down!  Flat.  The left foot... ALMOST...



So close in fact that Aaron is in his LAST cast!  Yes - you read that correctly... We are close to being DONE with the casting process.  Dr. VanBosse determined yesterday that one more cast will make the difference.  So Aaron is now sporting his last set of casts... One black and one red... That is going to make for one happy boy!!!!



We go back in two weeks to remove the casts and Aaron will then start wearing braces to keep those stubborn feet in place!  I can't tell you how relieved we feel.   Of course we are nowhere near done with trips to Shriner's.  Not by a long shot.  But accomplishing the goal of getting Aaron's feet down so that he can walk safely is huge.  And giving the Shriner's men from Richmond a break from having to drive us up there every single Friday is another huge relief.  We are so very grateful for their willingness to do this for Aaron.  They are an amazing group of dedicated men! 

The down side to all these trips to Shriner's is that they make for enormously LONG and EXHAUSTING days.  You spend most of the day either sitting in the van or sitting in the waiting room.  Since we have never won ANYof the DOZENS of i-pad adoption giveaways - sitting all that time can be very tedious!  BUT - the up side is that we get to meet the most amazing children. 

This precious little one, Robyn, captured my heart weeks ago!  She would ONLY smile when I wasn't looking through my obnoxious camera lens!  Smiling or not - she is precious!!


And this little guy, Peyton - He just plain humbles me. 



The absolute HIGHLIGHT for this week for me was meeting these little girls...



Gerri (7) and Victoria (4)

Gerri (blue striped shirt) is from Aaron's country and was adopted about 6 months ahead of him.  We followed her adoption every single day.  She too has Arthrogryposis.  I was blown away by her size (Aaron, who is 6, is sitting and the girls are standing in the picture).  Pictures never capture size but she is so amazingly petite.  I just wanted to grab her up in my arms when I saw her but of course restrained myself.  I was also blown away by her speech.  You would never know she was not from the US.  Victoria is also adopted and is as cute as a button!

It was such a pleasure to talk to their Mom, Nancy, who has been an e-mail friend for a year.  To see other Reece's Rainbow families - to witness with my own eyes the transformation in the children - words just can't begin to capture how that feels to me.

To think that a year ago both Aaron and Gerri were orphans.  Gerri was slated to be transferred and Aaron already had been doomed to a life of nothing.  A year later they are standing next to each other - free.  Cherished.  Loved.

God is good!

12 comments:

  1. I so love seeing the progress that is helping Aaron use his limbs! Thank you so much for sharing.

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  2. So glad to hear you are almost done and love the pictures of all the beautiful children.

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  3. I've been noticing that. Aaron seems TALL next to so many of these kids!!

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  4. Hello, I am working on a montage of children who are adopted from RR, I was curious as to if I could use a picture of your sweet boy?
    Email me at vanilla.cake.love@gmail.com.
    Thanks!

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  5. Last casting : ) That's great.

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  6. Aaron is such a beautiful boy! (But, don't tell him that I said that!) He radiates Joy. It is so evident that the love and care he has received from his new Mommy, Daddy and two Great Big brothers, has changed him in so many ways. I Believe, so strongly, that this little boy is destined to become a Strong and Mighty Man of God! I hope to be able to experience more of his Journey in becoming the person Our Lord is "growing"!

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  7. What a process. But what success! It's so fun watching him blossom in your family.

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  8. He is indeed good!!!! Happy you are on the last cast. Who knows just maybe we will also be there in two weeks and we shall meet!!!

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  9. So happy to hear of Aaron's progress. Last round of casting, that's great!! :)

    Amazing to see your photos of smiling children, even though they have to go through more than most of us. I am in awe!

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  10. Oh my...how much fun to see your paths intersect like this! So much fun to see them side by side. So very glad about one more casting.

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  11. we were SO blessed to meet you both!!! I can not wait to see you again in 2 weeks!!!!
    hugs!

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Loving words from kind people make our hearts glad!