[Continued from HERE.]

And now, for the final five countdown to the Number 1 Reason I am Happy I Was Adopted:

Number 5:

Whether war orphans in Sudan or parents whose children were abducted by the LRA in Uganda, having been an "orphan" for a bit after birth and being raised by parents that were not my birth parents often endeared me to those with whom I was working. It created common ground and helped me to earn... more

In a ever-so-slight (and not nearly as funny) homage to the David Letterman Top Ten list, I offer you today my Top 10 Reasons Why I Am Happy (or at least not unhappy) I Was Adopted.

Number 10:

A bargain at any price, I was… um, no, not CHEAP, a BARGAIN! This was good leverage, on occasion, when trying to fanangle some pocket money. Upon parental resistance, I might, given the right circumstances, come out with "but A and G [my sisters] cost at least DOUBLE what I did, not to mention the... more

Do not tell me I can’t possibly raise 39 children, because I’m doing it, and doing it as a single parent. This can be done and I have fifteen grown children that are happy to back me up in this boisterous claim.

Adopting older children in sibling groups quickly makes a family grow. I chose to adopt school age children since back then I was the school library media specialist. As a single mom we certainly needed my paycheck.

Working while raising 10, 20, even up to 30 children was challenging, I’d decided on early retirement when the numbers were bumped up to 35 as five new children from one family joined us in 2002.

In the 1980s and throughout the 1990s most of my... more

Some times I think certain “adoption related topics” are considered taboo in the adoption community. Searching in Kazakhstan is definitely one of those “hot” buttons. You’ll have adoptive parents who are told by their adoption agency that searching is “illegal” – while there is a bit a truth in that – if you decide to explore and have the marriage and family law translated – you’ll find it illegal for the birth family, prosecutor or judge to inquire or pursue information about the adoptive family or children after an adoption is complete;... more

Here's a brief synopsis of what I think are the top blog posts from the fost-adopt blog in 2006.

I've got the post overview on how to get around my blog, where to find stuff and when I write:

I usually write a post in the not to early morning (Yawn) around 7:30 AM my time (Colorado) and another in early afternoon. Occasionally I’ll miss one of the afternoons and will post on the weekends. So, even if you are one of those get up at... more

Two days left in the year 2006… and I am sitting at my main PC with my left foot propped up on my desk, still trying to drain the nasty stuff from my toe. Of course, this position aggravates my ½ century old back…. Sigh. But all in all, I have MUCH to be happy about. My folks headed back to snowy Colorado yesterday and somehow managed to land in Denver in spite of the second huge snowstorm that threatened to shut down DIA. We had a wonderful time while they were here. They both look good and more rested than they did in October.... more

A year ago this week LuLu had an incident where her trauma was triggered and she nearly hurt herself or KayKay. I had left them at home while running errands and LuLu was playing with a new doll she’d bought with Christmas money. We have always been leery of letting her play with dolls and dolly diapers because her trauma memories are triggered by diapers (among other things). But she so very much wanted the doll…

The incident led to some serious destruction of Christmas decorations (I lost my nativity scene) and near-injury with a pair of... more

2007 is just around the bend. I've talked about the good and the bad in 2006 and even hit on what I feel was the best part of the year along my adoption journey. So what do I have in the coming year to look forward to? Quite a few things! We've already gone about setting up a few visits. The rest will fall into place as the year progresses.... more

To be honest I was sitting in the parking lot (trying to calm my nerves before going inside) and watched my foster daughter’s bio mother escorted from a police car by four police officers. She is known for running. Watching this brought tears to my eyes. I was doing visits with the bio parents for the past 10 months, so I had come to know them somewhat. I guess I felt emotional for a number of reasons. This was child number three that the bio mother was losing. The bio mother was a product of her environment. Meaning, that when her mother is a drug addict and dealer, she didn’t know the first thing about being a mother. She never had a mother. I am not making excuses for her behavior. Personally,... more

A few rules about children in your home:

There is a discussion over on the foster to adoption forum about having two or more children under two years old. The question first came up:

Just wondering if anyone has fostered two babies at one time? Or what ages did you have at one time?

Many people have had several young children and babies at once and it is being discussed on the forum

In Colorado, you can only have two children under two years of age at one time, and our last agency discouraged having more than one under two unless they were siblings.

After we adopted K, the regulation stated we were not allowed to foster or adopt any other children... more