Happy Holidays!

May all of your holidays be Merry and Bright! 

There are several kids who just want a family to call their own for the holidays. Could you or someone you know be a family for any of these children?

Callum

Jed

Leeann

Miles

Brooke

And let's not forget the Non-Special Focus kiddos who still need families: Rose, Liam, Corey and Holly! It's the season of giving, so if you are dedicated to waiting children, please give them a chance by spreading the word about them, share the blog with your friends and family or post an email about them to a group or community you're a member of. If none of that is your cup of tea, than please donate to ASIA's gift of family fund to help those who can't afford the great costs of adoption to give a child a home and family and to know the true meaning of love. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Those Who Wait...

We still have QUITE A FEW WAITING CHILDREN who are not even being considered right now. We have a lot of children on our waiting list and these kiddos need families! They are young, adorable kiddos who should not be waiting! If you have not already checked our waiting kiddos, please consider:
Lucy, Waverly, Francesca, Carry, Grayson and Logan who are all Non-Special Focus and need families who either already have completed dossiers or are very close! Contact me about these cuties who are mostly between the ages of 1 1/2 years to 5 years with minor special needs.

Mathias, Jack and Charlie are Special Focus and are available to anyone who qualifies or possibly those who need waivers. Contact me for more information:

Matthias

 Matthias is outgoing and talkative; no matter what he is doing, he always talks to his foster mother.

Jack

 We had a cardiologist review Jack's information and have that available and she is willing to speak with anyone else about Jack!

Charlie

We have many more from our Changsha program as well! I will post about them tomorrow, but contact me for more information: marcisk@asiadopt.org

A Rose By Any Other Name....

If you haven't taken a look at our waiting children yet, please go take a look at sweet Rose! I can't believe no one has snatched her up yet! She is Non-Special Focus, so she needs a dossiered family.  Anyone? Contact me for more information about sweet Rose or any of the other waiting children. It looks like May and Ruby from our last list as well as Cassie and Yvette from this latest list all have families. Congratulations to them! However, the rest are still ready and waiting for their forever families to find them! I wish I could post their sweet faces, but you can go back and see them on my blog post here:

http://asiahope.blogspot.com/2012/05/after-22-grueling-hours-of-travel-and.html

She is the girl chewing on the cracker...precious, isn't she?

Exciting Precious New Kiddos Arrived!!!

Exciting news! As expected, ASIA received 10 new files of waiting children from our partner orphanage in Hunan Province! They are adorable kiddos and many of them were the children we met while on our trip last June. You can see them back on our blog posts from the end of May/early June. However, most are Non-Special Focus, so we cannot post their adorable little faces here:-( However, we did get several special focus among the group:

Heather is 5 years old:

 She was the one who was super interested in my Ipad and caught onto it quick! She was a bit shy at first, but after she got comfortable with us, she came out of her shell and began to talk more. What a cutie! Heather is Special Focus.

Quinn is 3 Years old:

We didn't get to meet Quinn on our trip, unfortunately. 

Callum is 3.5 years old:

We didn't get to meet Callum, either, but look at that face!!! Isn't he adorable??? He lives with an American foster family and speaks English! Someone has got to snatch this little boy up!

Zayna is 3.5 years old:

We did meet Zayna. She is very happy to sit and observe what is going on around her. She smiles sweetly when the nannies tease her or say nice things to her.

To get a gander at the cute little girls and boys, ranging in age from 1.5 years to 3 years with minor special needs, that are Non-Special Focus, you will have to get pre-qualified to view our waiting child list on our website. Please see the link at the top of this page or contact me for details: marcisk@asiadopt.org

New Kiddos Expected!

I am back with exciting news! We are still recruiting 20 new families to get going on their dossiers, as we have more cute little kiddos from our partner orphanage coming to our individual waiting child list soon and we need families to have completed dossiers, or close to it, in order to be eligible for many of the kids! Don't let the holidays slow you down! These kids still need families!

We also received two little heart kiddos today who are just adorable, but have pretty serious conditions. If you are one of those special families who is willing to consider a child with a serious heart condition, please contact me: marcisk@asiadopt.org

Here are the kiddos: please meet Tillie and Jed:

These little ones are Special Focus and they need a family to get them the treatment they most certainly need for their heart conditions. If you would like to consider them, please contact me! You can apply for them before having a completed dossier.

8 Little Ones Need Families

ASIA still has 8 little ones out of the 12 that we got that don't have families considering them right now. Only a few of those are Special Focus. But we do have 2 precious little Non-Special Focus toddler boys and 3 girls who have no dossiered families considering them. If you are open to considering one of these adorable kiddos, and you have a completed dossier, or close to complete dossier, please contact me right away!

We also have 3 Special Focus kiddos who are not being considered. Both Mathias and Jack and not being considered. They are pictured in a post from last week, but here are their cute little faces again for you:

Jack

Mathias

Here is the other little dude that is Special Focus:

Charlie

Aren't they cute? Just look at those cheeks on Jack and Charlie! Charlie is only a year and a half old, all cute and pudgy still with bright eyes and a smile that shines! Wavers may be available for Special Focus kiddos, so contact me for more information. 

 Unfortunately I can't picture the Non-Special Focus kiddos we have available, but we have 3 girls--Francesca, May and Carry. Francesca and May are both a year and a half old and Carry is 5 years old. Please contact me if you are close to completing a dossier or have a completed dossier and are interested in these little ones: marcisk@asiadopt.org 

Feeling Forgotten

Today I was looking back at the blog from our trip to our partner orphanage last May/June, feeling sad for all of the older children who still sit waiting for a family. Most of these kids have been in the orphanage for a very long time and they long for a family. None were hesitant about their desire for a family. We have had instances before where it seemed that a child was being persuaded to say they want to be adopted, but that didn't seem to be the case here with the kids we met. We have their files yet again, but unfortunately most people are distracted by the adorable young toddlers we have on our list now. Of course they are just as deserving of families and we do want the right fit for each family.

 I hope that families still take the time to go through the whole list to see the rest of the children who wait. There are a few who really grabbed me. The one I will speak of today is one who gathered a lot of attention when I initially posted about her, yet since that time, she has had little interest. No one is reviewing her file currently and she still waits.....

Isn't Taryn a lovely young lady? This young lady needs a mother to give her the motherly love she has blessed the more disabled children at her orphanage with through her nurturing personality. Taryn impressed me with the way she took care of the other children without being asked. She has a truly giving personality. She is confident, outgoing and friendly. She likes to chat, dance and go shopping (a typical tween!). She is quite independent, well liked, mellow and happy. Although there is one thing that weighs on her. She really wants a family, even though she knows that she will miss her friends at the orphanage. She would love to have a a Mom and Dad and siblings of any age. Do you know anyone who could be interested in Taryn? She just turned 13 so Taryn doesn't have much time anymore. She has been waiting for too long already! 

Are You an Advocate?

You know you're an adoption advocate when:

1.) You see waiting children and want to take them all home!
2.) You talk about waiting children to your social networking groups and spread the word about the children who need families.
3.) You tell your friends and family about waiting children that tug at your heart.
4.) You tell the folks on yahoo groups about waiting children that tug at your heart.

5.) You talk to your church or other community about waiting children and ways they can help, including adoption, donations or advocating.
6.) You collect money to help waiting children without families.

7.) You contact Marci to find out which children need advocates the most.
8.) You host a blog or submit guest posts to other blogs about waiting children.
9.) You share your experience of adopting a waiting child and become an adoption ambassador.

10.) You are such a good advocate that your adopted child wants to do something to contribute, so they make something to sell and donate the money to one of ASIA's Programs to give back to orphanages and orphans. 

We got a call recently from one of the members of our ASIA family whose daughter, along with her friends' daughter, were making friendship bracelets to sell and donate the money to ASIA's Program to give back to orphans. What a great idea! Lots of our families have kids that are getting older these days and this sounds like such a wonderful opportunity for them to contribute!

.....any other suggestions?

Let Me Tell You About...

Let me tell you about Jack and Mathais. These two boys were specifically selected by CCCWA to take part in the Little Hearts Medical Team's evaluations, so they will both end up with treatment plans completed by Dr. Armsby's team from Doernbecher, OR! We are sure that will help families considering these two boys for adoption:-) If you want to know more about the Little Hearts Medical Team, you can take a look at my blog post about it, or ASIA's Facebook page.

But back to Jack, who just melts your heart when you look at him!

He is a big, bright-eyed four-year-old boy who is adored by everyone he meets. You can tell from the picture that he has one of those personalities that lights up a room and draws everyone to him. The nannies all dote over him and take extremely good care of him, as they are sensitive to his special need. He loves to play outdoors, and learn children's songs and counting from his nannies. The nannies have carefully potty trained him and they let him eat several small meals per day, instead of fewer larger ones, due to his condition. Jack has a sweet tooth! Could you be the family for this precious little boy? Contact Marci to find out more about him: marcisk@asiadopt.org


Now don't forget Mathias! This little character is an active, lovely and polite boy.

Mathias likes to play outside and play games with other children. He is quick to smile and is extremely outgoing and welcoming when guests arrive at his foster home; he says hello to them, invites them to sit down and he is always talkative to his foster mother. He is very helpful, and volunteers to make the bed and set the table. He is a very adaptable boy and doesn't let his special need slow him down one bit. He is very self sufficient.Could this six year old boy be the one for you? Contact Marci to find out more about him: Marcisk@asiadopt.org

Adoption Fair

ASIA is participating in another Adoption Fair in honor of National Adoption Month! This one is at Microsoft in Washington State. So if you live in Washington and are around tomorrow, come say Hi to Pattie at the Microsoft Adoption Fair:

Microsoft Conference Center (Building 33) on the Main Campus in Redmond

Building address: 16070 NE 36th Way   Redmond, WA 98052

The Fair is from 9:30am until 3:00pm, Friday November 9th. There will be seminars taking place from 10:30 until 2:30. Pattie will be speaking at 12:50pm about Waiting Children from China. Come stop by!

New Waiting Children!!!

Exciting News! ASIA received 10 new waiting children yesterday! Nine of them are Non-Special Focus, so we cannot advocate for them publicly, but if you have a dossier completed or almost completed and want to see the adorable little kiddos (toddler age up to 5 Years, 5 girls and 4 boys with minor special needs), email me for the password: marcisk@asiadopt.org

The Little boy who is Special Focus that we received is only 18 months old! He's a cutie:

Isn't that an adorable face? What a smiley little guy:-) Do you see all of those toys in the background...he's at our previous partner orphanage from last year in their Half The Sky Program;-) So if you're open to a boy, contact me before he gets snatched up!

In Honor of National Adoption Month

As the ASIA staff busy's itself getting ready for various adoption fairs and finding new ways to advocate for our 24 waiting children from China, we are reaching out to ask YOU to be a part of National Adoption Month. Can you be an Adoption Ambassador this month? How many people can you educate about adoption this month? Do you have a blog? Hop on there, and post about any of the 24 waiting children you've seen on this blog and link your blog back to ASIA's so people can see the pictures!

We have Trevor, who is aging out in May and we have not had any interest in him. His only special need is that he is a boy! Trevor is an intelligent, kind and polite child. He is curious and helpful; he enjoys playing with other children and is very kind. He is very determined, pursuing things that are challenging for him until he is able to conquer them. He receives praises for his singing and dancing and is a sensitive and friendly boy.   Please spread the word far and wide about Trevor before it's too late for him. Ideally, we would like a dossiered family, but if someone is willing to work quickly, we will take all inquiries!

 

Could you be the family for this handsome boy?

 Or how about for Polly? Polly is an optimistic 8 year old girl who always has a smile on her face.

 She can walk independently, but slowly due to her right leg. She has a very strong memory and remembers what she is taught easily. She speaks clearly and gets along with others well. She likes singing and dancing and has a strong respect and obedience. She studies at the institute and has strong consciousness of the class rules and studies seriously. She can write her own name and recite poems and count numbers. Isn't she cute?  She needs a Mommy or Daddy to tuck her in at night and let her know that she is loved forever and ever. 

If older child adoption is not your cup of tea, how about one of the cuddly little guys in our Changsha program? Their files are working their way to us! Apply to ASIA today and get your dossier done so you will be eligible for these cuties! 

National Adoption Awareness month is the perfect time to begin your adoption journey or to become an adoption ambassador and help all of these children who don't have Mommy's and Daddy's to get the families that they deserve. Everyone can do something this month! Join the movement! 

National Adoption Awareness Month

Happy National Adoption Awareness Month!!!

Check out this awesome video by Love without Boundaries:




ASIA is participating in a couple of Adoption Fairs this month, in honor of National Adoption Awareness Month, as well as hosting a webinar. For more information, check out our Facebook page or website.

The Change For Children Party

Happy Halloween!!! 

We had a fun Halloween party for ASIA's Change for Children Campaign last weekend:

Lots of Goodies!

Bobbing for Apples

Wrap The Mummy Game

We had a bunch of young kids and their parents take part and it was quite successful. We raised over $37 just with folks putting donations in a container sitting out at the party! Almost all of the kids made Trick or Trick containers to collect change in to help kids who don't have Mommy's and Daddy's. We'll see what the grand total is, but the party was fun for all and deemed a success!

If you're going out Trick or Treating tonight, consider taking a collection bag to help kids without Mommy's and Daddy's at our Partner Orphanage in Hunan Province. We hope to raise enough to make a real difference in the lives of those kids who wouldn't otherwise have a chance to be adopted!

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

To all of you on the East Coast who were in Sandy's path, our thoughts are with you for a speedy recovery.

ASIA's Webinar

On Nov. 7th, ASIA is pleased to offer a free introductory webinar on adopting from China. It will be hosted by ASIA's China Program Director, Fei Yang, from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm PST (7p - 8p EST). To register, please contact Pattie at pattiec@asiadopt.org. This will be a great way to learn how to get started with Chinese adoptions so be sure to pass the information along!


Here's a picture of Fei, playing with the kids at our partner orphanage during our trip in June:

Fei has been with ASIA for 9 years now and is extremely knowledgeable about our programs and about the kids we met on our trip. She's a great person to talk to and an excellent speaker for the webinar. 

Recruiting 20 Families!

ASIA is now recruiting 20 families for waiting children from China with minor special needs. Are you considering adopting from China and/or are interested in any of the children you have seen on our blog? 

 Many of these children will be Non-Special Focus, which means they are only available to ASIA families with completed dossiers in our program. In order to be eligible for the Non-Special Focus children, you will need to start your dossier process now or already have a completed dossier. 

I have seen families wait to find their child before starting the home study and dossier process and then they are devastated when they do not qualify for the child they think is meant to be theirs. Or they find their child and that child has to wait even longer to get home to their family.

Don't make a child wait while you complete your paperwork. If you complete it now, that will be less time that your child has to wait for you. They have already been waiting too long for forever family.

ASIA believes that there is a family for every child. We work with families to make sure that they are prepared and pursuing the child that is right for their family. We are a team, working together to get every child home to their forever family as quickly as possible. We are honored to help guide families through their adoption journey, every step of the way. We believe that bringing a child home is just the beginning of the adoption journey....

Stay Tuned....

I just wanted to remind everyone to stay tuned, because we are expecting some more files from Changsha in the next few months. Here are some of the kids that may be coming, whom you may remember from last May/June:

I'm saving some more of them for future posts, so if you need a dose of adorable, stop by and check them out.....Happy weekend!

Little Hearts Medical Team

The brainchild of Mike and Tanya Lee, Little Hearts Medical has come to fruition! ASIA's Director, Joy Drechsler, attended the week long pilgrimage to Beijing with the Medical Team.

The team at the medical conference in Beijing

 There, the team evaluated children with serious heart conditions from Little Flower Medical Foster Home, they brought supplies to Little Flower, held nanny trainings there and they held a large medical conference. Some of the best cardiac surgeons in all of China attended the conference, along with Director Ji Gang from CCCWA. Dr. Armsby and the medical team instructed the attendees on the treatment methods they used on the Lee's children, who could not be helped in China at that time. The hope is to change that so surgeons in China will be able to help more children, enabling them to be adopted.

Doctor Armsby, the surgeon from Doernbecher on the team, along with our beloved China Director, Susan Song, and Director Ji Gang arranged for an additional 6 children with serious heart conditions from two orphanages outside Beijing to be seen by the team while they were there! The team had the opportunity to perform heart caths and develop complete treatment plans for the children they evaluated.

These Little Hearts have big dreams and they have already made a huge difference! The Lee's were able to raise enough money for this trip, as well as to purchase medical supplies, including a pacemaker, without which one of the children at Little Flower would not be treatable. Way to go Little Hearts!  Stay tuned for more information about Little Hearts, Little Flower and ASIA's waiting children!

Pieces of My Heart

Okay, well apparently no one is as excited about Change for Children as Pattie and I are here at the office. We're hosting a Halloween Change for Children party for my daughter's classmates and friends this weekend and we're so excited! We're going to make our Change for Children collection jugs, color them, then have some Halloween fun with Pin the Hat on the Witch, Wrap the Mummy and bobbing for apples. Oh, and don't forget all the yummy goodies! I just love Halloween!


On another note, I thought I would tell you about some of the kids that stole pieces of my heart when I got to know them in June. Sometimes there are kids that do that and it's really a gut feeling that I have a hard time putting words to. All I can say is that my gut tells me these kids have a lot more potential than we were able to show you in pictures. One kiddo that really just pulled at my heart hard for some reason was Lidia.

Lidia and I had more of a teasing relationship while I was there...me chasing her with my cameras and her trying to avoid them. She was shy about smiling and had a tough outer shell, but there was just something about her...something I can't put words to that made me think there's more to her than we could see under that tough shell. I wish there was a family that could crack that shell and help her become everything that she wants to be.

Josiah is another one. Josiah is a bright kid with loads of talent that oozes from every pore. The institute is doing a great job of helping him use his strengths, but he really needs and wants a family of his own. A deaf family would be a great fit for Josiah. Josiah doesn't hide his potential--it's all there for you to see in addition to his fun, goofy personality that anyone would love. Is there a family out there for Josiah?

Taryn is another kiddo that pulls at a piece of my heart regularly. The institute recognizes her strengths, as they made her the MC of their Children's Day celebration! She is so sweet, kind and nurturing, providing the mother figure that the other kids there need. But who will be Taryn's mother? Taryn needs a Mom to teach her how to be a kid, to be close to her and to nurture her. Taryn nurtures everyone else, but who nurtures Taryn? My heart tells me there must be a family for Taryn, but there isn't much time. If you have it in your heart, please help advocate for Taryn!

Tanner is another kiddo whose talent oozes from his pores. Tanner is outgoing, fun, goofy, funny, and he enjoys speaking English. He wants a family, has had the experience of living with a single parent before and is not picky about the type of family. If you're looking for an older child adoption, Tanner is your boy! He will be invested in making it work with whoever comes to get him. Communication will not be as challenging, since he already knows some conversational English and is eager to learn more. He plays the piano beautifully, loves to wrestle with the boys and play games. He didn't hesitate for a second with the costumes and dressed up right away as superman. I think Tanner has big dreams, but I also think that with the right help, he just might be able to accomplish them. Tanner is getting older as well. If you have a heart for older children, please help advocate for Tanner before he gets lost on the shared list once more or ages out!

Greer, Doug and Brandon also have pieces of my heart, but I have advocated for them quite a bit, so I will save that for another day....

The Reasons for Change for Children

I have mentioned our Change for Children Campaign before. This was an exciting event for us to be involved in, because it's so easy for folks to participate in it. All it takes is putting a milk jug with the Change for Children paper on it in your office building, or giving it to your child to Trick or Treat with on Halloween to collect pocket change for children around the world without families. Our focus this year is helping those kids in our partner orphanage who will not be adopted. Unfortunately, we have not had a big response to this campaign so far:-( We would be happy to mail anyone who needs one, a Change for Children bag to collect change in on Halloween. Now I know many of you are fundraising for your own adoptions, but this is a way to get your children involved in giving back to China. Just to show you who this will help, I will give you an example.

Our Change for Children Campaign this year will go to helping kids likes Cuyler who will never have the chance at having a forever family because they will, or have aged out of eligibility for adoption.

 It will help Eve, whose needs are so significant that she will probably grow up at the institute, having very little opportunities in her life once she is expected to live on her own.

It will help children like this poor kiddo who aged out right after our visit and we never even had a chance to try and help him. He will live in China with the stigma of being an orphan (which is a big hurdle in China) for the rest of his life. So Change for Children really will make a difference. Your children can see some of the faces of Change and all they have to do is collect pocket change. Then you can cash that in and make your donation online to ASIA at this web address: http://goo.gl/jy7Eu or send a check to ASIA's mailing address.If that's not your thing, than even a $10 donation will make a difference if everyone pitches in. The price of a Starbucks drink, or a movie. Okay, you've heard it all before. See if you can find a way to make a Change for Children this year and give us a like if you think you can do it!