September 1 Birthday!

On September 1, our dear J turned NINE! That completes the marathon of four kiddos turning nine in recent weeks at CDA II.

J is one of the neatest little girls EVER. She is spunky, fun-loving, smart, and jabbers about anything and everything non-stop. Her mind never stops!! I've also recently discovered her great Bible story reading (and telling) skills.

A favorite picture of J from May 2010 when we were blessed with a visit from a professional photographer

J on September 1 with her mother (one of very few kids currently with us who receive parental visits)

J is not a big eater, but she put away this pizza during her special birthday dinner outing!

Newly nine A came with us, as well as Shirlen, Angel, Jesus, plus Oriana (2) from the Baby Home. I love being with our big kids!

Happy Birthday, J!!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

Last week we celebrated M. N.'s second birthday!

I well remember when she arrived such a tiny, sweet baby!

Now she...well...has all sorts of nicknames here!

Don't let that angelic face fool you, we have to watch out for this one! She can knock a baby over with a huge smile that makes it rather hard to know what to do!!

Our M. N. is a fun baby, that's for sure! :)

Please pray for a speedy adoption! A local couple chose her from seeing her picture published in the newspaper as abandoned (part of the paperwork process) but has been denied the adoption multiple times by the court. The case has now gone to Sucre, the judicial capital of Bolivia, for the courts there to make a final decision.

We pray that God's will be done for this beautiful, smart baby, growing up so fast! :)

Look who's nine!

Last week our third-oldest at Casa de Amor II and longest in Casa de Amor out of ALL of our kids turned NINE!

A was 3rd out of 4 in line to turn nine over a 6 week period - first came boy J on July 16, then girl A on August 1, and still to come, girl J on September 1! Our kids are growing up. :)

A few pictures of the festivities and also of his previous 7 birthdays at Casa de Amor.

Little boy J had turned 3 a couple weeks prior and even though we did his birthday, he didn't get a cake...until this day with A!

Some of the kids really get into "biting the cake"...

L-R: Tia Ana Maria (caregiver with 24 hour shifts), Tia Benita (cook/housekeeper, Monday through Saturday), Tia Carla (our new psychologist for all three homes), Tia Eli (in charge of education, Monday through Friday)

A really cleaned up with the gifts!!

A requested a boat from me, handmade by my jail friends

Afterwards, we loaded up A and five of his specially invited guests - girls Jhosie & Abi, boys Jesus, Marcus, & Edgar - to go eat hamburgers at their new favorite place!

The tio and tia in charge... :)

(Picture by Marcus!)

Playing basketball in the car with their "happy meal" prizes!

2005

2006 (in blue striped shirt)

2007 (in red stripes)

2008 (sharing a birthday with C, at head of table)

2009

2010

2011

Happy Birthday, A!!!

Even though the past year has been very hard, we know that God has good plans for your life, and we are excited to be a part of them! :)

To The Jungle...

Okay, so not REALLY, but we pretended!

It's a pretty wild and wooly outing with 14 babies anyway, don't you think?!

Walking to our neighborhood "Child Event Center"...La Jungla!!

They sure thought it was wild....and a little bit scary!

But there was a lot of fun and laughter going on, too!

Little J loved the merri-go-round

Volunteer Danyelle getting some used to the trampoline (they quickly warmed up and became experts!)

Baby P hanging out

Enjoying empanadas for a special snack

This fun outing that would normally be beyond our means financially was a special gift from volunteer Jenn Chacon the week before she returned to McKinney, Texas!

Jenn wanted to give a fun time to everyone in the Baby Home with a different sort of outing...and she certainly did!

The toddlers LOVED the little plate sets that Jenn bought and personalized for each child

Thank you so much, Jenn! We are praying for God to guide you in upcoming days as you settle back into life in Texas, with your special baby ever on your heart.

Happy Birthday, G!

Some babies are just born SWEET!! Our little G is definitely one of them.

When he arrived last year at 6 days of age, he had been abandoned by a teen mother with her neighbor friend. That neighbor appeared on our Baby Home doorstep on July 25 wanting to drop him off. She had been feeding him pilfrut (cheap little bags of juice you can buy everywhere here).

Our accountant told the girl she needed papers first, that we don't just take in babies off the street, so lo and behold, she went to child social services and the very next day without a call or anything, he was back on our doorstep, now with the proper documentation. (I have to chuckle sometimes that it will be a shock one day, as accustomed as I am to the legal way of getting babies here, to have a baby of my own that comes withOUT papers, ha!)

Love the look on his face!

What a joy to have G his first year of life!

Everyone was so excited about the cake this day! Pictures of the "party guests" to come... :)

Happy Birthday, little G!

Happy Birthday x 2!

On May 23, the Baby Home celebrated TWO first birthdays!

First was baby F, who arrived at exactly 24 hours of life - on my birthday! :)

Beautiful cake for our sweet F...

First taste!

Then it was boy K's turn!

It's hard to remember that K is the same age as F, because he didn't arrive to Casa de Amor until he was 6 months old (December 2011).

Happy Birthday, K!!

Party in full swing!

That's a lot of cake, folks...

Little G getting after those cookies!

C was quite happy :)

Baby P hanging out during the party

It was also little girl B's 5th birthday on this day! She arrived with her sister when she was just a baby. So amazing to watch all of our babies grow up!