I mentioned getting professional pictures taken together in my list of great visit ideas. However, this one is slightly different. I'm not sure you can count pictures with the Mall Santa or Easter Bunny as professional pictures but they're a great keepsake for parents and kids alike.

We started with this idea this past Christmas season while D and the kids were in for Nick's birthday... more

Fees are increasing at USCIS, and there is very little time left to voice our objection. The following is an outline on how the increase affects adoption and what we can do, as a group, to stop the increase. Please feel free to forward this message to any agency, listserv, group or individual who can help to eliminate the fee increases affecting adoption. We only have a week left to act on this.

Fee Increase Proposal On February 1, 2007, USCIS published a Notice of Proposed Rule Making in the Federal Register that would substantially raise filing fees for most types of cases. If the proposed rule is adopted, filing fees would increase by an average of 66% over current fees. The... more

Reading a post of Erin’s post awhile back (I think it was hers, couldn't find it!) about hating to be called a saint had me chuckling a bit. We mothers are just never satisfied are we? Adoptive moms hate being thought of as some extraordinary super moms - able to parent like no other. Compared to what some birth moms are called, being called a saint does not sound too bad; but I understand her reasoning. Other adoptive moms complain that some people scorn them and question their motives for adopting. I loved a response I saw recently on... more

I have already written about some of Caleb's first holidays with us. You can read about his first Chinese New Year in the United States here and his first Valentine's Day here.

Rather than focus merely on first holidays, I would like to focus on some of the other "firsts" in my children's lives. With all of my adopted children arriving at an older... more

If your child receives special education services, it’s important that you understand the basics of the law (IDEA) and some of the “rules of the game” so to speak.

The first concept you need to understand is that by law, through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), all children are entitled to a “Free, Appropriate Public Education” (FAPE). This means that special education and related services should be:

• Provided at public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without... more

Questions to ask your pediatrician

From the Post Adoption Learning Center:

Questions that you should ask of the office staff:

1) How long do patients usually wait to see the doctor? 2) What are the office hours? 3) How does the office handle routine questions? 4) How does the office handle emergency calls and after hour calls? 5) Does the office have... more

Hannah is stuck on having tea parties right now. We hear this several times a day, every day. This started after she got a free child’s tea set in a bag of toys.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is one of Sammy’s diagnoses. It does not present itself in the “typical” way. He does not have to constantly wash his hands, check the lights, count things, or anything you might commonly think of with OCD.

Here is a definition from Wikipedia:

Obsessive-compulsive... more

This morning as Beth was waiting for the neighbor to pick her up for school, she was hanging out in my office. My blog, and the last picture I posted of Amy, was displayed on my computer. She said, “Who’s that?” When I told her it was Amy she was shocked, and she commented on what a pouty face Amy wore. I scrolled down and displayed the rest of the recent pictures, and Beth asked, “Did Amy ever smile?” I said, “Sometimes, but it was…”

“Fake?” Beth filled in the blank even as I was speaking.

Beth was amazed that Amy would realize I was... more

My natural mother died in 1992 and I found her in 1993. I grieved for someone I never knew. I had to accept that I would never know her truth. Through the years, I have found much comfort in helping others. By helping others has helped me to stay focused and reminds me that my true goal in my search was to find my roots and why I was adopted. I didn’t expect nothing more or nothing less. Unfortunately, with finding a grave there are still unanswered questions but what I did find out was the truth. It may not have always been pleasant... more

I’ve been a vegetarian for more than 30 years, before that I rarely ate meat at all. Giving it up was easy because I don’t like it; I think meat has a nasty taste.

I’m raising my children as vegetarians, but not forbidding them to eat meat, they can eat it at school if they want, or at someone’s house, but not here. I’m committed to raising them to know that nutritionally sound veggie meals are easy and healthy.

They’re so glad to have a mother that cooks for them, that makes them sit down at dinner each night, that what I serve is... more