Monday, May 31, 2004, cont I could hear a little baby crying in the next room. They told us that all 3 were HIV+. I told Greg to take pictures of them and after a while, I went in and held the baby. He was just a newborn and was lying in bed crying. I picked him up, soggy blankets and all and just looked at him. He stopped crying right away and just held my eyes. Have you ever had a baby that can see into your soul? This baby was like that. He never wavered, never looked away, just looked deeply into my eyes. ... more

John and I are thrilled to announce that we are gearing up for another round of adoption from Ethiopia! We're hoping to end up with two more little boys. We haven't quite decided whether to add them one by one or to get brave and request a sibling group.

But we've got a little time to think; we are planning to wait till at least the end of the year to get going. This is partly to give our current 'baby', age two, a bit more time as the youngest, and partly to allow more time to save money and work on our house. I'm dreaming of double washer-dryers, and maybe even one more bedroom....but we'll see.

While dreaming about the future the other day, John told me that... more

The end of the New Year season is almost here. 15 days after the Lunar New Year is the "Little New Year," after which everything goes back to normal.

It's Lantern Festival time.

During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night carrying bright lanterns.... more

Part 1

In your research on adoption, you probably have seen the words “home study approved” in various places. You may (like me before I entered the adoption world) wondering what the heck a home study is and what it entails.

The purpose of a home study is to educate and prepare the adoptive family for adoption, to gather information on the family, and to evaluate the fitness and readiness of a prospective couple to bring a child into their home and life.

A... more

In the Christian Adoption blog, Laura Christianson wrote an interesting post about the reasons that people choose to adopt. She said that everyone who considers adopting wrestles with the question, “What are my motives for adopting?” You know, I don’t think I ever once asked myself that question. Perhaps this is because I already knew the answer.

For me, adoption was about bringing a child into my family to love.... more

Of all the things that I have enjoyed about being an adoptive mom, listening to my kids as they acquired a new language has been among the tops. I recently discovered another adoptive mom of two from Russia who is reveling in her children's journey through language as much as I do, and I want to share her thoughts with you.

Deborah is a writer and teacher who is trained in music and speech science. The mom of two pre-schoolers adopted late last year, she blogs at "The Adoption Adventure".

She... more

The main difference between LuLu and the school system, though, is LuLu not only recognizes that she’s stuck, but she wants to change. She’s trying very hard. The school district, though, has us pretty much where they want us for now. LuLu isn’t in their classrooms or able to access any of their services, so she isn’t their problem. Heck, no one really even shows that much interest in LuLu at all. I was surprised that they readily accepted the goals I proposed at Friday’s IEP, but I shouldn’t have been. After all, I am the teacher and if those were... more

I have sat and wondered often in the play room of our Adoption Agency what the children must be thinking?

I have seen children just shut down and you can look into their little eyes and they are dark and sad. I have watched as the little ones play and have fun with siblings and they are full of joy. Then there are those sitting off by themselves.

It couldn't be a pleasant experience sitting there waiting for parents who never show up. With my 4 precious babies that is exactly what happened every time. Except for one time... more

My daughter goes to a playgroup every Friday. The Mom’s sit in a really cool observation room behind a police like mirror two way glass where we can see & hear our little angels in action but they are none the wiser that we are watching. The Mom’s all talk about general Mom stuff and somewhere along the line I mentioned that we adopted Livi from Russia. This past week this one Mom asked me about our adoption… at first her questions were the general type “was it a hard process?” and such… the curious questions that almost everyone has.... more

Continued from here, where I was giggling over bits of news.

This gives a chuckle, too: the idea and success of this program designed to get deadbeat parents to pay up on their child support. Good Parent Pay is a website that posts photos and details about Canadian parents ... all men from what... more