As I said in my earlier posts, I knew a little about albinism because of my involvement in a discussion group for adoptive parents of Chinese children with special needs (our Sofie had a congenital heart defect, hence my membership in the group). There were many adoptive families in the group with children with albinism, and I’d caught enough bits and pieces of their discussions to know that people with it have low vision and needed to be careful in the sun. Once we got home from Haiti, I asked for pictures of the baby, but weeks went by and no pictures came. My husband and I prayed about what to do, and in the meantime, we finally got a single photo, taken from an odd angle, that showed... more

As I mentioned in my introductory posts about our family and adoption experiences, the idea of adopting from Haiti was something that just kind of fell into our laps. We’d been planning to adopt one or two children from Viet Nam, but through an interesting series of events, we found ourselves starting at our Lulu’s picture and accepting her referral as well as that of her newborn baby brother, whom we’d not yet seen. Shortly thereafter, we learned that they had a sister, roughly age three, who was part of the sibling group. This was a surprise to us, but after prayerful consideration, we decided to go ahead with our plans and adopt all three children. Not long after that, we received the... more

Over the coming year, I plan to do occasional entries on the various types of special needs that are most often seen in waiting children, particularly those in international settings. It is my hope that other families will open their minds and hearts to children who have such needs, and that hearing other families’ stories will help them envision special children in their families. I’ve chosen to start with albinism since we have personal experience with it, and I hope to touch on heart problems next (also one we have personal experience with). And just a note... more

Whew! I am soooo utterly exhausted! I have been blogging my buns off for the last few days of February and I am so glad to see March in the horizon. There have been so many interesting posts for me this month, I can hardly believe that I have touched on so many topics in such a short time (only 28 days!).

To start off the month (on a Love Thursday no less) I talked about my love of poetry and shared a beautiful adoption themed poem by Joyce Maguire Pavao.... more

I love Christmas eve. I mean, I really love Christmas eve, far more than Christmas day. It's the anticipation of the beautifully wrapped gifts, the excitement the young ones have of knowing Santa is coming, having a nice Christmas eve dinner surrounded by family, reading the Christmas story out of Luke and enjoying the lights on the tree and a crackling fire in the fireplace. Christmas day to me has always felt rather anti-climactic.

Today is the last day of February and for... more

1. Toothbrushes – You can never have too many of them with foster children. Especially when strep throat, the flu or anything else cycles through your home, you need to stock up when they are on sale.

2. Suitcases or Duffel bags – If your foster child comes with anything besides the clothes they are wearing, most likely their belongs will be in trash sacks. So, it is helpful if you can stock up on suitcases and duffel bags for when your foster children need them.

3. Hairbrushes and Combs – Every foster child should leave your home with one. So, get them when you can.

4. Backpacks and School Supplies – I have only one child come with a backpack. So you will always... more

Continued......

I do not advise this because it causes the caseworker problems which means it can come back to bite you on the back side. Things happen sometimes without notice, so you have to roll with the punches (so to speak).

I now live close to the state line, so we do a lot of shopping by crossing the state line. I had to talk with my caseworker about this and then they got special permission from the judge for us to go across state lines on day trips. If we want to stay the night across state lines we have to get special permission from the caseworker and judge. ... more

This is a question that seems to be asked a lot of myself and other foster parents that I know. There seems to be a lot of misinformation or information that is not entirely correct about foster care so I will address them one at time.

Foster parents can continue taking family vacations, long weekends, family reunions, etc. while you are foster parents. Does having foster children change these things, and how you spend your free time? Sure, you have two real options.

First one is you can choose to use respite care for your foster children. This may be the easier one in some ways but should not be your first choice. Placing your foster children in respite is not always what... more

We had a fantastic time at Disneyland. It was wonderful to be in California where there is so much racial diversity. The weather was beautiful and made it hard to return to cold and snowy Utah. We loved being with Tana's family. We were comfortable with each other right away. I've known Tana for some time now, but our husbands had yet to meet, and it had been awhile since our children had seen each other. It didn't take long for our kids to find a buddy in Tana's family and before I knew it, I was watching my kids walk hand-in-hand with their new best friends. Tana gives a terrific run-down of our trip, so you can read more about it there.... more

Grandparentage Test: This test determines the statistical probability that an adult is the grandparent of a child. This DNA test determines the probability that an adult in that grandparent of a child. Because of the relationship, conclusive results can not be derived. The accuracy of the test can be increased if one of the child’s parents is also tested. Fees for the grandparentage test are usually higher than the paternity and maternity tests and can range in price depending on whether you want it for informational purposes or court admissible... more