Pray for Ruslana

No Greater Gift

Please pray for Ruslana right now. Her fate is an institution in just 2 weeks. This is the fate of all orphans not adopted from the baby home. She has a committed family going through the process as we speak. They have even been approved through their paperwork. Ruslana is planned to be moved before they can possibly be there. The family is told they can not "hold" her any longer. My heart sank as I read this mothers post. It is not right and it is not fair. I do know however that we serve a BIG God and with Him ALL things are possible. Please pray for Ruslana and the family who is just waiting for the word that they can indeed rescue her from this awful fate.

Welcome To Holland

"WELCOME TO HOLLAND"
by Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability- to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this...
When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip -to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.
After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, 'Welcome to Holland.'

' Holland?!?' you say. 'What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.'
But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.
So you must go out and buy new guidebooks. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.
It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills... and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.
But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy...and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say 'Yes, that's where I was supposed to go."
And the pain of that will never, ever, ever go away...because the loss of that dream is a very significant loss.
But...if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things...about Holland.


What this poem means to the New Dickinson Family:
Because of our "trip to Ukraine" we have been blessed with Marcus AND Macey.
Praise God!

October is Ds Awareness Month

Welcome October! In honor of Down syndrome awareness month I have committed to blogging everyday for 31 days about Down syndrome. There may be days when it's just pictures of the 2 that have taught me so much, so far. I would love your input and comments or suggestions of what you want to know about Ds. I will do the research or you can send it to me yourself and I'll post it. I'm looking forward to learning as I go. This month is about the ones who have Down syndrome and the ones who love them.
Stay tuned...

M & M's very 1st Buddy Walk

Today was the day we have been looking forward to. Marcus and Macey participated in their very 1st Buddy Walk. We were ready to go! The t-shirts that Wayne made for our family and the Malone's turned out great. Taylor packed our lunches while I packed the van. As Mary pulled up with our dear friend Wartha to follow us we opened our front door to pouring down rain. No, not today. We had a Buddy Walk to walk, outside. We drove North to downtown OKC in the pouring rain and prayed that the rain would stop long enough for us to enjoy our time together. I decided to pull right up to the gate and drop off the kids, the wagon and ALL of our belongings. It seems like we packed a lot of stuff for 4 kids and 4 hours of fun. I parked my car several blocks away with my umbrella in hand. Only I didn't need my umbrella, the rain had stopped. Just like that it was over, Praise God! We were excited for the fun to begin. Today was filled with games, moon bounces, prizes, a sack lunch and of course pictures. We enjoyed watching our dear friend Brianna and her cheer leading squad perform at the beginning of the day. They looked like they were having so much fun. When we arrived at the moon bounce there was our friend Leah. She works with our physical therapist and chose to spend her time as a volunteer today. She enjoyed playing with Marcus and Macey in the moon bounce. Both kids loved it. Neither one of them wanted to get out. I'll have to remember that. By then my sister Jennifer and her kids came to join in on the fun. It was great to have them there. Rylee, my niece even gave up a soccer game to be a part of Marcus and Macey's big day. All of our kids had fun together. This was a day geared just for them. There were training dogs and the Redhawks mascot, Rowdy milling around too. Wayne arrived from work just in time to eat a ham and cheese sandwich with me and the kiddos before the walk. We then ventured around towards the front of the park with the Malone's and my sister for the big walk. Our friends from church, the Littlejohns also joined us in time for the walk. It was great to have them there. They are a precious family who are very supportive. When the balloons let go into the air the walk had begun right at 1:30pm. We walked around the outside of the ballpark. It was quite a sight. One I will not soon forget. ALL those with Down Syndrome and the ones who love them. It was a privilege to be a part of something so special. The day was a good one. My kids were both exhausted and ready for a nap when we got home. What am I saying, we all were. I am already looking forward to the next time we're able to walk proudly in support of our kids and the many others who have a little something "extra" special.

Bumper sticker: "My kid has more chromosomes than your honor student." Too cute!

We raised $600 in 6 days...Thank You!

I am humbled that those of you who donated did so quickly and sacrificially. Thank You! I can not wait to share pictures of our day together after the Buddy Walk.
Stay tuned...


I was approached on Monday by M&M's therapist wanting to donate towards our Buddy Walk team. I was thrilled! I knew we were participating but I didn't know to what extent. We have always gone with the Malone's and Eli and just shown up for the festivities and supported Eli as we walked the walk with him. That very thought has changed my thinking. Am I walking the walk? At what extent do we participate? I wanted our first year of Buddy Walk with M&M to be meaningful, special. I don't just show up for church on Sunday mornings and participate. Our family is active throughout the week serving were we can and are able. We are doers. I wanted to be a doer for this meaningful cause as well. The DSACO blessed our family with a financial grant when we arrived home with them from Ukraine just like if they had been born in an OKC hospital. That in itself was a blessing. Then a representative from the DSACO came to our home to pay a personal visit just they would if we had delivered M&M in an OKC hospital. They brought with them a wonderful welcome packet that included a beautiful bag, calendar, note cards, 2 books, a directory FULL of resources and 2 beautiful handmade quilts for both Marcus and Macey. I was humbled by their kindness. The DSACO has accepted M&M from the very beginning. I attend a parent-to-parent meeting each month (Wayne has band practice the same Tuesday night so he hasn't been able to join me, yet) that just so happens to be held at our home church across the street from our house. I attended a Talk Tools convention with our therapist at Baptist Hospital this summer. I paid the $25 registration fee to attend and was excited to do so. I didn't apply for a scholarship because of the grant we were just given. DSACO had done so much already for our family. It just so happens that after the conference I was approached with a $40 grant to cover the cost of the conference and the gas money to get there. I was blown away with their kindness once again. As a family we attended the summer Pool/Pizza party at our local community pool. It too was sponsored by the DSACO. Our family had a great time fellow shipping with other families just like ours. I say ALL this is say, we have been given an opportunity to give back to the organization who has given so much to The New Dickinson Family. It would not be right to just show up and participate, let someone else do the work. We set a goal, a small one compared to the many others out there, but none the less, we set a goal and exceeded it thanks to each of you. All I did was provide the opportunity and you gave to a meaningful cause. Because of givers just like you our family and many others will spend our day celebrating those with Down syndrome and the ones who love and care for them. THANK YOU!
Be watching next year as we plan to raise our goal and help raise awareness for Ds. This is a meaningful cause. This is time well spent. This day is all about M&M. I can hardly wait to see our team, Grew By 2 wearing the t-shirts that Wayne so proudly made as we "walk the walk" together. We invite you to join us.

I pooped...

Marcus came home from school today with marker on his shirt. After I fed him lunch I changed his diaper and put him to bed. I always keep clothes on him, not today. I took his outfit off so I could begin a load of laundry. You know, so I could get my chores done while he's sleeping. I covered him with a blanket and didn't think a thing about it. I went to wake him up from his afternoon nap and smelled poop. That in itself is not unusual for Marcus, what I found was. Because Marcus had no clothes on he was able to take his poopy diaper right off. He did not want that on him, I don't blame him. I have learned to keep my camera handy for moments just like these. He was a mess. He looked at the bed, his diaper, then me as if to say, "Now what?" It was definitely time for his 2nd bath of the day. I forgot to mention this happened to also be a Wednesday afternoon. You know the busy afternoon when you have to have supper on the table by 4:30 so we can eat and get to our church activities by 5:15.
I know, I know your thinking I'm glad it's you and not me.
These are the Days of My Life, really!

Macey's first day of BSF

I am an active member of BSF, Bible Study Fellowship. It is a non-denominational, international Bible study that I enjoy attending at my home church. I have served as an usher, worked tape time and volunteered in the Children's program. Tanner came with me before he aged out of the day program. Now it's Macry's turn to come with mommy to Bible Study. We are studying the book of John throughout the entire school year. It is an in-depth study that holds me accountable and a lecture is given that has me taking pages of notes each week. I was not able to finish last year due to the fact we were in Ukraine adopting Macey and Marcus. I chose to stay home and care for them instead of coming back to finish the semester. Good choice! I missed the study of God's word, the small group, lecture time and the fellowship that BSF provides. I did attend a Bible Study over Proverbs by Beth Moore this summer. It was good but nothing compares to BSF. I was excited to come back this year. I didn't know until just days before if I was able to attend. I have prayed about this for months. I needed a peace about it from the Lord. I needed help with my schedule. The study is literally held across the street from my house, in my home church. There are ladies that would drive an hour to attend this study. Marcus goes to school in the morning so he is not able to join us, maybe next year. They were able to place Macey, that's not always possible. They have limited space. That was an answer to prayer. They have also decided to dismiss 15 minutes earlier this year. Another plus for me. BSF now gets out at 11:00. I have 15 minutes to walk across the entire church, pick up Macey from her class and get home (across the street) by 11:15 to get Marcus off the bus. Not a moment to spare. I got all the details worked out and Macey and I started BSF today. The children's leader was so excited to meet Macey for the first time. She had been praying for her over the summer. Macey came right in to church, passed by all the people she didn't know (including the Children's leader) and went straight to her classroom. Her Sunday School classroom that is. Praise God it was the exact same class she will be in for BSF. See God does care about Macey and the small details, like being comfortable in her own SS class. It was by NO mistake that Macey and I were right were we needed and wanted to be today. I know these two hours spent in Bible Study will carry me through the week. It truly is one of my favorite 2 hours of the week. I figure that time would be spent doing something it might as well be BSF. I am grateful God cares for me and my busy schedule. I care for Him and know that spending time in his Word and being with other believers is time well spent. Macey will reap the benefits too. Her class will be learning the same thing we mommy's are just on their level. I'm so grateful to have this time with Macey. I pray God does a work in both of us this year.