Introducing...

Tatiana (Anna) Fillmore

Born in  Russia in June of 2005

"Refused" by her mother because she has Down Syndrome.

Raised in an orphanage for nearly five years, where she was a favorite among the staff.

Healthy, high-functioning, active, affectionate, capable, sociable

and soon to be
ours. 

Heavenly Father has been leading us through an amazing journey the past five months.  Soon after Eli was born, I had strong impressions that there was another little spirit that needed our family...and soon! 

It wasn't long after that lots of little things started happening in our lives that led me to start considering international adoption. Jeremy wasn't excited about the idea.  It took him a couple of months to want to even pray about it.  He was just trying to keep the business afloat and feed the family. But eventually, he started feeling the little nudges from the spirit, and we started praying about it. 
The answer, when it finally came, was a definite "yes." Jeremy and I had some really special experiences that we couldn't deny. Every day, every week, line upon line, it became more and more real. Eventually, we knew that if we just took the big leap, it would all start falling in to place. So we started the home study process two months ago, then decided on Ethiopia as our country. This is where my sister's daughter will come from. We were excited that our daughter would have a little cousin from the same country, and truly fell in love with Ethiopia itself as we read about it. Little did we know how things would change.

Anyone who has ever adopted knows that it is an extremely emotional process. One minute, you're high as a kite, the next, you're as low as a piece of dirt. The last few months have been like that for me. Jeremy has always been my rock. Once he knows something is right, he never goes back. There was never a question of whether the Lord was happy about our decision to adopt. But I was struggling with the fact that we were going to request a healthy, "typical" baby or toddler. Not that there is not a need for families for these children. There are millions of orphans of ALL ages who need loving families. But for some reason I felt like the Lord had other plans for us.

Eventually, I came across a website called Reece's Rainbow. It's an organization that helps find families for children all over the world with Down Syndrome. In many countries, it's either impossible for these children to be kept, or the parents just don't want to keep them. I kept hopping on the site, reading the profiles of all these precious children, wondering if there's any way we could handle a child with special needs. For a long time, I honestly didn't have the guts to explore it any further. But eventually, I talked to Jeremy about it and he was very open to it. His sister has a daughter who is mentally handicapped, so he definitely has a heart for people with special needs. We talked about the trial it would be to have a child with DS, but also the incredible joy that they bring. They spread sunshine wherever they go and teach everyone so much.

We started praying about it, and within a few days, I found a post on a discussion forum from a woman who was hoping that Tatiana's mommy (that's me) would read her post and look at her updated photo. This woman's family had fallen in love with her, but they didn't meet the requirements for Russia. So they had been praying for her. She put a link to Tatiana's profile on her post. I clicked the link and saw her cute little ponytails and face for the first time. Actually, I think I had skimmed past her profile before because of her age. But this time, I saw a bright, beautiful child. I started reading the info about her, looking for something that would tell me it would be too hard for us, but there was nothing. Someone had recently visited her orphanage and talked with the caretaker about her. The caretaker spoke so warmly about her, and said that she was a favorite. She had been raised in a "baby house" until recently and because she is so high functioning, at age four (when she was too old to stay at the baby house) they moved her to a preschool orphanage with typical children who only have eye sight issues. (She needs glasses.) They had high hopes for this little sweetie. And boy are we glad.

After reading all the great things about her, I sat and stared at her photo and thought, "Wow. She's almost too good to be true." I stood up and started cleaning the kitchen, and suddenly, the tears started flowing. The Spirit spoke very clearly to my heart that this was our girl. When Jeremy and the kids came home, they were instantly smitten as well. It's interesting, we already feel like she's a part of our family. Every time we look at her pictures, we can't help but smile. She's already made her way right into our hearts.


Anna is going to give us so much more than we will ever give her.   A few years ago, you never could have convinced me that we would step out of our "normal" lives in this way. But all we know is that it just feels right.  Little Anna is going to bring sunshine and joy like we've never known.  We are humbled and grateful for the miracle that has taken place.  That the spirit has slowly changed us, one little concept at a time, and prepared us for this calling from Heavenly Father.  To provide one of his perfect, celestial spirits with a family.