Today marks the three month anniversary of the finalization of our adoption. Here are some impressions of the last three months:

The beginning is tough! Man, those first few days and nights were hard. I absolutely cannot fathom how a single parent does this! My husband and I “spelled” each other during those first crucial and excruciating first days.

You love your children immediately, but sometimes liking them sometimes takes awhile. Don’t get me wrong – I adore all three of my children, and you’d be hard-pressed to find a mother bear who loves her cubs more – but during the really behaviorally challenging times, I had to switch to “agape-mode.” Agape is the selfless love... more

There is theory that the longer you have your pet, the more they begin to look like you. Now, I’m not comparing adopted children to pets, but it is interesting how your kids begin to take on your characteristics!

Lately I’ve noticed some of the silly made up expressions I use, coming out of the mouths of my children! They rock out to the music of my favorite 70’s band, and they have a love for my husband’s favorite band, as well.

The kids mimic their older brother, both intentionally and not. They have some of his same facial expressions, and ours as well. At first, it was difficult for my oldest son - who, for nine whole years had been an only child – to grasp the concept... more

And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Many times here at AdoptionBlogs.com we talk about the challenges associated with parenting children who have special needs. But what happens when the parent is the one who has special needs?

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Education: If your child were the one with special needs, you would run down every source you could to find out more about that condition or disorder. So it is when the parent... more

One of the biggest issues I grapple with as a Christian mother, is how to be focused on worship during services – giving honor to God - and training my children in the pew regarding proper conduct and attending to their many needs.

Like most things in Christianity, there are several schools of thought:

Some feel that children need to “suck it up” and be mini-adults and learn to worship by sitting in the pews ramrod straight and following along – regardless of the child’s age.

Many congregations have a “children’s church” where the kids are completely separate from the adults, so the adults can worship in peace, and the children have an age-appropriate time of worship.

Others... more

November is a busy and important month for foster care agencies because of National Adoption Day. Caseworkers are scrambling to finish up any paperwork for their upcoming adoptions. They are trying to move all cases that are being finalized on National Adoption Day to an adoption placement. This can be an almost impossible time to reach a caseworker or other child welfare personal. I am adopting on this day and I am still having issues tracking down caseworkers and other workers concerning my adoption.

While the child... more

Foster Care Terms A - C

Foster Care Terms D - I

Judicial Review: When the progress of the parents and the child is reviewed by the court to decide the safest place for the child to live. Within 12 - 18 months of the child entering foster care there must be a Judicial Review.

Juvenile Court: Is a district court system that only handles matters that affect children under the age of 18.

Life Book: Kind of like a baby book that geared towards older... more

Halloween was a smashing success again this year, with everyone having a great time, although quite a chilly one! And with that holiday done and over with it is time to gear up for the next celebration, which actually begins tomorrow! And I bet you thought that you had until Thanksgiving! That's right tomorrow is the first of November, and kicks off National Adoption Awareness Month.

November is National Adoption Awareness Month, with the seventeenth of November being National Adoption Day. Both National Adoption Awareness Month, and National Adoption Day are set aside each year to bring attention to the thousands of children whom have been adopted, as well as for those who are... more

National Adoption Day is a very important resource to shine the light on the large number of foster children waiting and hoping to be adopted. It also allows the public to see adoption maybe in a positive light allowing the image of adoption to be changed. National Adoption always falls on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Thousands (in 2006 – 3300 foster children were adopted) of foster children have their dream come true on this day. These foster children have been given a great gift of a forever family on this special day.

Judges, attorneys, adoption personnel, child welfare agencies all work towards the goal of... more

For people who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), experiencing another incident like the death of a loved one or pet, a natural disaster or some other ancillary event, can trigger and exacerbate the condition.

Remember the re-experiencing or reliving the incident are hallmarks of PTSD. After a recent earthquake, my daughter talked about it for days afterward, and would rock her bed to simulate it. For people with PTSD, this type of recreating of events is commonplace.

If possible, try to have a more relaxed schedule in the days following the precipitating event. The stress of trying to hurry about can make a difficult time even harder. Use the time to allow your... more

The month of October was an interesting one here full of highs and lows both emotionally and apparently blog wise. Things started off strong, but as our family reached some new levels of trust in our open adoption relationships here (like one child’s first overnight visit with birthfamily!), not hearing any responses on the blog, has made me wonder if my readers have taken their leave of me. I sure hope not!

Before I review what else I have blogged about during the month, I want to take the time to remind readers if there is something specifically that you would... more