Friday, October 30, 2015

How To Be Cool

Here at New Day, we do our best to encourage and foster important and essential life skills. Such as the proper wearing of sunglasses.


That's right, Charlotte and Jack, the ends go behind your ears. 


Steady, Steady! Don't poke yourself in the eyes!


Hooray! You did it!


Hey! When did the room get darker?


Taking them off to try it again. 


Jack gives the others a chance to check out his cool dude shades. 


Someone else decided they wanted to join in the lesson...Isaac, those 'shades' are crazy-cool!

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This post was written by Amber, a current volunteer.
Thursday, October 29, 2015

NDSouth: Preschool Learning Fun

 

"Good Morning Boys & Girls," says our Preschool Teacher, "time for some fun!"

 
Who knew learning could be THIS cute?

 
Evelyn's concentration 'pucker up' face is adorable. 

 
Thad is really concentrating on lining up his puzzle pieces...almost there Thad!


 Hayden's favorite activity today was playing with all the HotWheels cars.

 
Nina, time for your turn with the puzzle!


Great Concentration Nina, you were such a great preschool student today!

 
Today was a GREAT day to learn something new!

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Wordless Wednesday: Oh Tim...


Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Transformation Tuesday: Sylvie

Sylvie's transformation story is somewhat unusual, in that she is the first child that had a liver transplant in her first 24 hours with us!


She had been in the care of another foster home in Beijing, but they were not able to pay for the liver transplant that she would need so they asked us if we would be able to help. Initially we didn't have a bed available for her to come straight to New Day Foster Home, but we went ahead and had her name put on the waiting list for a liver.


On the morning of Monday 11th of May, we got the call that a liver had become available. It sounded like a perfect match for her, so we quickly headed to the hospital to meet with the doctor AND to meet her for the first time.


The transplant surgery went well and this is the first picture of Sylvie's new color!


By Tuesday morning she was off the ventilator and breathing on her own. We were amazed by the speed of her recovery! On Thursday she was able to move out of ICU and onto the regular ward, which meant that one of our nannies could be with her.


Since she came out of the hospital at the beginning of June, Sylvie has been tenderly cared-for in our Critical Care Unit, to keep her away from pesky germs and infections.  Our amazing CCU nannies have poured so much love into her, and she has brought so much fun and joy into those little rooms.




Sylvie is matched with her forever family and it looks she is going to be joining them soon, so our part in her transformation will be pretty short but very sweet.  What a privilege to know this beautiful young lady!

Monday, October 26, 2015

Beautiful Place, Beautiful Pictures, Beautiful Kids!

We think you will agree that our photographer takes pretty stunning pictures of our kids.  In the playroom, in the preschool, out in the backyard...she gets some amazing shots and it's so hard to choose the best ones.  What happens though, when we go on a field-trip to somewhere really pretty?


On Friday we went to a beautiful botanical garden/park, and the pictures are stunning.


I had fun picking out some of my favorites, but don't worry, we'll publish a scrapbook with lots of pictures soon.


Ben really enjoyed the water fountains, and may or may not have got a little bit soaked!


Robert thought the whole thing was awesome, and especially enjoyed 'meeting' a dinosaur!


It was a wonderful place to explore...


...and there was even a colorful performance of traditional dancing.  Beautiful!


Friday, October 23, 2015

More New Boys

We have had a lot of new arrivals lately, and all of them just happen to be boys.  Which is fine by us; they are all super-handsome and adorable!

Now we have three more fine young men to introduce to you.  First, meet Sebastian...



This little cutie arrived two weeks ago, and he is now almost five months old.  He really is teeny-tiny, born prematurely with urological and orthopedic issues.


Marcus also arrived two weeks ago, and he is nearly one year old.  As you can see from his skin color, he is waiting for liver transplant surgery.  We're waiting and hoping for a suitable liver to become available...


Finally, meet Tyler, our most recent arrival.


Tyler is nearly 14 months old, and came into our care just last week.  He's already had heart surgery and faces some other medical challenges, including malnutrition.  Despite all he's been through, he is a cheerful little guy and has already begun to talk and stand with support.


Our amazing nannies are busy, getting to know their precious new charges and caring for them.  We can't wait to show you more pictures so that you can see the difference that love makes in these boys' lives.

Did you know that you can play a part in making that difference?  All three boys need monthly sponsors and surgery funds.
Thursday, October 22, 2015

NDSouth: Hayden's 43 Months


On March 12, 2012, Hayden was found by a passerby at a county health center. He was found with some baby clothes and a half bottle of milk, but his birth parents could not be located. The orphanage doctor diagnosed him with right eye blindness and estimated he was about two years old. Soon afterwards, the orphanage staff discovered that Hayden also had a large abdominal hernia, and he had not been able to stand or walk because of this.  

 
Hayden arrived at New Day South January of  2013. We don't know much about Hayden's first few years of life. We don't know the circumstances behind him being left or the care he received. All we know is that when Hayden arrived at New Day South, he was in need of a lot of love. 

 
When Hayden arrived he was scared, shy, and would often cry. He wasn't talking and didn't know how to express his feelings and needs. Since then the staff and volunteers at New Day South have showered him with love and affection and we have seen such a difference in this little boy.


 
Hayden has shown us his beautiful gentle personality, that loves to be silly and sing action songs! 

 
And as he waits, we pray that his forver family will find him and bring him home.

Hayden has waited for 43 months so far.
 
 
Our dream for Hayden is that he won't have to wait much longer for his forever family to find him and bring him home.


Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Wordless Wednesday: Amazing Austyn!


Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Therapy Tuesday: Eli Lends A Foot (Or Two)

Something very cute happened in the therapy room the other day.



Eli and Freddy sitting like this on a mat is kind-of-adorable just in itself, but what is super-cute is how Freddy got onto the mat...


Sharon wanted Freddy to move from the floor onto the mat.  She was encouraging him to move himself, but Freddy found an easier way; by pulling on Eli's feet!


He grabbed hold of Eli's feet, which helped him to shuffle up onto the mat.  Eli watched his progress...


"Oh, sorry Eli, did I hurt your feet?" Freddy wonders.


"Ha, not really!".  I've heard of 'lending a helping hand' before, but whoever heard of lending your feet?  Eli thought it was pretty funny.