We hope that this adorable little baby boy will soon grow big and strong with his yummy, and nutritious, formula and loving hugs!

Christopher is in need of sponsors to support him at the Henan Healing Home. Sponsorships are typically $50 per month or $25 per month for shared sponsorships. Sponsors will receive monthly updates and photos of this sweet young boy. Good luck, Christopher!

• Sponsor Christopher at Henan Healing Home

Tiny Brody is the newest addition to our Heartbridge family. He was born in late November with a serious abdominal blockage. By the time Brody came into orphanage care a week later, he was in critical condition. Fortunately LWB’s medical team was able to arrange for emergency surgery the very next day. While our volunteers awaited news on Brody’s condition, we all hoped and prayed that this sweet baby boy would survive.

Brody not only made it through surgery, he surprised everyone by recovering in record time. After just ten days in the hospital, Brody was able to be discharged to our Heartbridge Healing Home to continue healing. Brody needs frequent small feedings, lots of sleep, and plenty of TLC to help him grow and thrive. This is where you come into the picture: You can help make a huge impact on Brody’s life through your sponsorship of $25 or $50 per month. We will provide monthly photos and updates on Brody’s progress so you can follow his story and see for yourself what a difference you are making in his life. Won’t you help Brody have his chance for health and happiness?

This photo, coming in at #5 in the voting for our Top Ten Photos of 2011, was taken just a few weeks after Scotty had arrived to our healing home. It is pretty obvious from this photo how he felt about having his own dedicated nanny, good formula, and essential cleft bottles at his disposal. We are so happy to report that Scotty went on to not only find healing, but also his very own adoptive family in late 2011!

Ricki was delayed developmentally, and so our nannies in the home worked hard to encourage her muscle development. In this photo she was not quite strong enough to hold her head up yet, but her smile was very strong. Just a week later she was holding her head up on her own!

This tender photo was taken on the day that sweet Maggie graduated from our Anhui Healing Home as her nanny was saying goodbye. Maggie had earned the nickname “Fussiest Baby” because she would only be content in the arms of her nanny. But Maggie didn’t want to just be held; she wanted to be sang to as well while her nanny walked around with her. Obviously from this photo it is clear that her nanny didn’t mind that at all – and so there were lots of lullabies sung to Maggie to keep her happy! We are so thankful for our loving and patient caregivers in our healing homes who are watching over some of the most vulnerable orphaned babies of all.

This photo was taken in May, about one month after returning to our Heartbridge Healing Home, a unit for babies who need more specialized care. At 14 months, finally able to spend some time on her tummy, Emily wasted no time learning how to “army crawl” around the room. By the time she left us in late October, Emily was pulling herself up to her feet and cruising around the furniture. However her preferred method of getting around was still crawling, which she could do very quickly. Emily just returned home with her new adoptive family to the U.S., and we all wish her every happiness in the world!

The other day my seven-year-old son and I were talking about a baby LWB had recently taken in for surgery. I told him that she would need to stay in one of our healing homes until she fully recovered, as her orphanage was very rural and extremely poor. I was trying to explain to him at a first-grade level what I had seen at her orphanage when I visited there this year. I described the coal “stoves” in the center of the room that were the only source of heat and explained that there weren’t any toys to play with. My son was silent for a minute and then once again reminded me of the wonderful innocence of childhood when he said with completely certainty, “But at least it is Christmas, and Santa will be bringing them all toys.” Isn’t that a beautiful thought? Of Santa arriving to every orphanage around the world with the supplies that are needed?

As my own kids put together their wish lists this season, with video games and the newest gadgets they’ve seen on TV, it’s hard not to think about the shopping trips I have taken with older orphaned children. I remember one trip in particular, as I was very close to the girls there, and I was finally given permission to take them shopping one evening. I told them they could pick anything in the store that would make them happy and was humbled to the core when the first girl worked up the courage to finally ask me if she might have some shampoo. The rest shyly asked for the things they wanted the most as well: a pencil, a cup, a warm pair of socks. Not one girl that night asked for anything frivolous. And each of them was so excited to have something of her own.

This holiday season, I invite you to add just one orphaned child to your gift list this year. I can promise you that it will be a gift that will bring so much joy to a child who normally lives with so little. We’ve made this task as easy as possible for you, by compiling a holiday gift guide specifically for orphaned children. We have gifts for as little as $10, and the catalog includes items like warm coats, new cribs, art supplies, toys, and more. You can see all of the wish list items here – and leave all of the details of delivering the gifts to children to the LWB elves.

There is no better season to remember the children around the world who have no mom or dad of their own. From all of us at LWB, we send our deepest thanks to each of you for your care and compassion to the children who wait.

Amy Eldridge, Executive Director

Delyth was able to have open heart surgery as soon as she was stabilized, and then she was moved to one of our healing homes.  Today we give special thanks for all of the people who support our medical program – as we think everyone would agree that this world is a better place with Delyth in it.

Kyra received surgery in May 2011 to repair her cleft lip. She spent her initial recovery time at our Anhui Healing Home and was moved to a wonderful foster care family in July. She celebrated her first birthday in September!

Kyra has adjusted very well to her new family life and loves to play with her older foster brother. Her favorite foods are congee and egg yolks, but she will also try most of the foods that her foster mother gives her. When she gets sleepy at night, Kyra loves to be in her foster grandmother’s arms until she falls asleep. She is now able to stand alone but still needs some assistance walking. It won’t be long before she is running after her foster brother and the other children in the neighborhood.

Kyra is in need of three sponsors at $35 per month to support her care. Sponsors will receive monthly updates and photos. Please consider supporting Kyra and sharing in our joy each month as we watch her grow.

We recently posted Zeke’s photo on our Facebook page and asked our readers for their thoughts on seeing photos like this. We were so thrilled with and moved by the comments that we received that we wanted to share some excerpts here!

The search for a “perfect” look should never be larger than that of deepest happiness. Keep posting “non-perfect” photos of real happy babies!!

The first time I saw my son’s beautiful little face, I didn’t notice his bilateral cleft….all I saw was the face on an angel. I took him in my arms, buried my head into his shoulder and choking back the tears, I whispered to him “I will never, ever let you go.” Cleft babies have the biggest and best smiles….Every single one of them is a picture drawn by angels.

If these little children can be so joyous and full of life in spite of their physical needs, I have no business feeling uncomfortable!

Adam, a resident at our Henan Cleft Healing Home

We brought home our daughter with her cleft lip and palate unrepaired. The night before her lip surgery we took about 100 photos of her laughing, smiling beautiful mouth. People in the U.S. don’t have the chance to see a cleft lip because our health care is good here and it is repaired in infancy. But there are so many children in need of the surgery. Keep on making people aware.

Don’t stop posting!!! It helped us become more aware of the cleft-affected children, and we found our daughter whose picture was before her surgery. We didn’t find out until after we received pre-approval that she had it repaired. We knew she was beautiful from the minute we saw her!

My son was born with a unilateral cleft lip and palate.  I remember looking at his referral picture for the first time and thinking I had just viewed the most beautiful little face ever.  I still do.

Alicia from Anhui Cleft Healing Home

I like when people are interested in the before & after, because they can see that with a relatively simple surgery, that baby with the lip they find too painful or revolting to look at is still a beautiful baby.

It was difficult to look at our daughter’s first photos (unrepaired cleft), but it is so very important to post those photos.  Some orphanage directors will NOT release a child’s file for adoption unless their lip is repaired. I think there reasoning is that the child will not be chosen if they “look that way.”  So when folks donate for repair surgeries they are literally changing the future of a child and the blessed family that has the honor of adopting him or her.

People need to see it to know the reality. I’d never seen an unrepaired lip until I got into adoption. We need to know there are older kids who’ve gone their whole lives with unrepaired cleft lips & palates.

Shayna from Anhui Cleft Healing Home

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves! Thank you to our Facebook readers to expressing their thoughts so eloquently. These beautiful souls capture our hearts, and it is our privilege to be able to help them.