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is still thriving and just so full of life and personality he is ambitious funny smart loving and yes he still gives us a run for our money we adore and love him so dearly and are just so lucky to be his parents a lot can happen in 3 years more than words could ever say and more than a few photos could ever say but here are a few of our favorites taken since the last post they re in random order but the first and last photos are very recent he turned 7 in august i titled this post smilevolution because he has lost 9 baby teeth in 3 years incredible they call him smilo at school enjoy lots of love posted by regina at 11 48 pm 1 comment saturday november 6 2010 extra extra read all about it yes it has been insanely long since i ve blogged more about that at the end of this post but i just had to share some exciting news and by news i mean it literally a big ole newspaper article in our local paper the post and courier ran our adoption story as their front page article on friday what an exhilarating day for us and a great day for adoption the media often tells the sad stories of adoptions not working out to have a happy story front page above the fold is almost unheard of we were blown away heartfelt kudos to bo petersen and the post and courier for using the power of the pen so kindly it is our deepest hope that this will inspire others and lead to more children finding their forever families it s hard to believe it has been more than 2 years since milo landed on american soil looking back in retrospect has been wonderfully fulfilling this came about because our homestudy agency was doing pr for a national adoption month banquet fundraiser for the charity through emma s eyes and they asked if we were willing to be interviewed for any potential media coverage of course we eagerly agreed but we didn t expect such a prominent coverage their awesome pr woman was inspired and she really pitched it with passion and she was so intrigued by milo she had to come and visit him herself she took the above photo wink wink if you followed our journey as it unfolded here on this blog you might be scratching your head about the referral photo mentioned in the article well the cat s out of the bag mum was the word at that moment in time and we just couldn t share that aspect back then as much as we were dying to so here is some of the story behind the story and the very unofficial referral photo there were no guarantees he would still be available when we got to kazakhstan and we knew virtually nothing about him a super important thing that the article did not capture was this it took a village to bring milo home the love and emotional support of family friends co workers professionals other adoptive families and sometimes even strangers gave us the courage to pursue the uncertain and the strength continue pushing forward when we were exhausted for all of you out there we are so very grateful for others who choose to take this amazing leap you will not be alone we understand that adoption is not for everyone but if it s not for you then please support one of the many wonderful adoption related charities creating hope for children who still waiting languishing neglected abandoned abused or forgotten here are a few favorites through emma s eyes two hearts for hope antares foundation spoon foundation joint council for international children s services ok so here is the article link http www postandcourier com news 2010 nov 05 son turns couple into a family if the link isn t working here is the article word for word son turns couple into a family from a kazakhstan orphanage milo now calls west ashley home by bo petersen bpetersen postandcourier com friday november 5 2010 12 comment s buzz four year old milo ruopoli yells for his parents to watch and bounces up and down on the divan he jumps from running finger rolls on the piano to banging on the djambe drum let s make music he yells to his parents the ruopoli family does photo by wade spees a favorite routine for 4 year old milo is getting the mail with his parents regina and frank ruopoli who adopted him in july of 2008 from an orphanage in kazakhstan regina said adopting milo is the proudest thing i ve ever done it s just natural provided this is the referral photo that regina ruopoli stared at for months before she and her husband frank could go to meet milo then 2 within a few days he became the exuberant smart fun loving boy he is today regina ruopoli said coming sunday two generations of a family have fostered dozens of children though the challenges were immense so was the satisfaction in faith values if you go what adoption banquet when 6 30 tonight where holiday inn express summerville emcee terry haas of home and garden television s designed to sell entertainment storyteller tim lowry tickets 50 raises money for grants to help adoptive families pay for travel costs medical expenses and other needs sponsored by a chosen child adoption services and through emma s eyes for more information or tickets call a chosen child adoption services 851 4004 regina ruopoli first saw her child two years ago as a cell phone image from half a world away his left eye crossed nearly into his nose his right eye stared uncertainly at his kazakhstan orphanage surroundings the disability already had been a deal breaker for some four prospective adoptive couples regina just kept staring at him i kept looking at his little hand wrapped around a nanny s finger i kept seeing my hand holding him she said he was absolutely beautiful one unlucky toddler was about to become the luckiest child in the world tonight a banquet takes place in summerville to raise funds to help families cover the costs of adopting children and paying for services for them it s one of a number of low key events taking place recently to recognize the need for and rewards of adoptions the cruel bottom line is that most adoptive parents are waiting in line for a healthy white baby the odds shrink as a child gets older has special needs or is a different ethnicity most people want a newborn or a toddler and the longer they stay in foster care the more issues a child might develop said denice fisher director of a chosen child adoption services in summerville for regina and frank ruopoli of west ashley it wasn t an issue frank himself is an adoptee even as they tried to conceive a child regina found herself hoping it wouldn t happen she wanted to adopt i mean there are a 143 million orphans in the world right now she said we wanted a child and somebody out there needed a home it wasn t easy but it s the proudest thing i ve ever done it s just natural when she saw milo s disability she got on the internet to do research she realized that surgery could help his condition and that he might never get it without the ruopolis he might spend his childhood in the orphanage then be faced with the prospect of a life on the street as an outcast the marketing communications professional and her graphic artist husband took out an equity line of credit on their home and handled the hurdles one by one he has since had the surgery when the ruopolis arrived at the orphanage for a two week bonding visit with milo she sat him in her lap and he sat there virtually catatonic drooling he had spent most of two years lying in a crib she didn t know yet that he was blind in his left eye and the crossed eye disability was an unusual particularly difficult to fix one it didn t matter she held him awhile then gave him to frank and got down on the floor in front of them frank stood milo on the floor and held him by his arms for the first time her child looked her in the eye she was in love you want him to have perfect vision you want him to have perfect everything but who s perfect adults or children she said i saw a spark and i saw the corner of his lip move just a hair like he was trying to smile and just wasn t ready yet i thought ok there s somebody in there within a few days he became the exuberant smart fun loving boy he is today after they had to leave to go home he would come to his door every day at the time of their visit stand there and cry it would be another month before they could return for the court date another six weeks for regina in kazakhstan before they could clear the red tape and bring him to charleston during a layover in memphis she caught her carry on on the escalator tripped and cut her knee people crowded around asking if they could help she just began bawling for the flight home in a dark plane milo asleep at her chest frank and her family waiting anxiously she couldn t quit crying she had her child home blogging has been incredibly rewarding i miss it so much obviously it s hard to keep it up right now milo is growing and changing like crazy the hills and valleys continue and so does the love now that i ve knocked the rust off the blog i will soon write one last update and then will proceed with our plan to turn this blog into a book for milo via blurb com my hope is to start a new blog in the not too distant future i want this one to stand alone as a snapshot of this wild wonderful transformational chapter in our lives and as a gift to our son posted by regina at 2 33 pm 9 comments sunday may 3 2009 exciting adventure i have taken on an incredible challenge in november i ll be walking 60 miles over the course of 3 days camping out each night with thousands of others taking this journey with me it s for an event called the breast cancer 3 day walk which benefits susan g komen for the cure i ve never done a walk like this before so i am nervous about it past participants say that it s not easy and i need to train seriously for it i am inspired to get back into shape for this worthy cause as well as for my son i am so excited to be doing this fundraising walk with a wonderful group of 11 fellow kazakhstan adoptive moms from all over the country we became close through our shared experiences in adoption we will be convening in arizona for the phoenix walk to support each other as we raise money for this great cause we traveled 6 496 miles to bring our children home so walking 60 miles for a cure is no problem we are keeping a group blog of our quest at http www kazmamas blogspot com i wrote a post there recently about my friends angela and jennifer who are valiant survivors of this disease i am humbly walking in their honor i hope that you ll share this adventure with me by supporting me in my fundraising efforts my goal is to raise at least 2 300 simply visit my personal fundraising webpage to make a donation any amount is appreciated seriously online donations are quick easy and secure thank you to those who have already donated i offer my sincerest appreciation for everyone s consideration and support posted by regina at 11 21 pm 11 comments wednesday april 15 2009 easter and kaz friends charleston was in full bloom for a beautiful easter season we enjoyed coloring eggs attending 2 egg hunts and exciting visits from 2 other kazakhstan adoptive families we know through blogland more on that below milo had lots of fun despite being under the weather and occasionally becoming mr mcmoodypants thankfully he is back to his old self and actually seems even sweeter than before i took a million photos during the past week on with the show oh how i love this boy stylin and profilin headed to the easter egg hunt picnic organized by the local adoption agency that did our homestudy a chosen child asking daddy for a hand up soon he will be asking for a twenty like something right out of the little rascals he wears pink well so does his daddy i can t decide whether to cut his hair or let it grow out into a shaggy surfer look for the summer in the background you can see a part of the huge playset that daddy and friends worked hard on putting together this weekend it s almost done photos coming soon enjoying the fragrance of his first hyacinth mommy s favorite spring flower pulling his beloved radio flyer simply scrumptious he loves to jump off of any elevated surface he can find no matter how slight the elevation he loves his dinosaur tent but he would never try to destroy it or would he our first visit from a fellow adoptive family was from kristi mieke mee cah who have been home from kaz about a year kristi is such a neat person who works as an expatriat for the us government she will soon move to uzbekistan for a 2 year tour working for the state department she will be in familiar terrority since this country is just south of kazakhstan kristi and mieke stopped by on their way to florida to visit family we spent a few minutes at home and then were off to enjoy a great morning at the middleton place plantation easter egg hunt it was a positively picturesque day and the kids were so stinkin cute together milo and mieke making beautiful music heart and soul little monkeys a great day for a picnic carrots for the easter bunny what a gentleman i didn t get a good photo of kristi so here is one i copied from her blog aren t they darling the second family to visit us was the ruley family who stopped by for lunch on their way home to florida from a wedding andrey and alyona alone ah were adopted about a year ago and are siblings they are absolutely adorable and loads of fun matthew and suzanne are such nice interesting and multi talented people they are musicians and vocalists too so we have lots in common the lovely ruley family alyona milo and andrey became fast friends alyona was such a nurturing sweetie milo helping alyona on roller skates i m not sure how much help he was cute andrey loved playing with milo s toys they share a passion for cars trains and such the stackable toy bins are from the land of nod and are one of our favorite purchases i love this photo of matthew and suzanne the two diva mamas frank and suzanne chatting after lunch we always love meeting fellow kaz families in person there is a special bond that is shared by this close knit group of people we have followed each other s journeys and continued to stayed in touch through the months years since our adoptions were complete i am ever grateful for the love and support we have received from them their encouragement advice and compassion are priceless to me and i feel as close to many of them as i do with my longtime friends it s remarkable to watch these beautiful children grow up and see how well they do once they have loving families to call their own we look forward to seeing many more of them in person at kazapalooza this year much love regina frank and milo posted by regina at 11 00 pm 16 comments older posts home subscribe to posts atom regina frank and milan milo at the orphanage in kazakhstan may 08 two months home four months home six months home flower power blog archive may 2007 1 june 2007 4 july 2007 3 august 2007 3 september 2007 7 october 2007 7 november 2007 11 december 2007 6 january 2008 7 february 2008 6 march 2008 8 april 2008 11 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