I am responding to a comment left here about what needs to happen with foster children and what foster parents need to be doing.

As soon as the foster child comes into care there is a service plan set up to address the child’s needs. The service plan covers a six month period. The first six month service plans is very basic because no one knows the kiddo and the biological parents are not too helpful in providing information. Mostly it will cover medical care, getting immunizations... more

The gynecologist suggested that LuLu may have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). She was making this observation due to her elevated testosterone and other clues in her hormone test results from this summer. She ordered more tests to either confirm or deny this hypothesis.

Meanwhile, she sent me home to research PCOS. Didn’t she know I would have anyway? And then, of course, I’d share it with you. PCOS is a hormone imbalance. The main symptoms are irregular periods (too few or too many), weight gain, facial hair, and acne. One of the main hormone “clues” is high testosterone.

In our case, LuLu doesn’t have many of the symptoms of PCOS –only very frequent periods. ... more

For those who received the weekly adoption week e-magazine in your boxes, you will be reminded of a giveaway that Erin at the Transracial adoption blog is hosting for some really super Curly Q hair care products. Don’t forget to register and tell her about what adoption means to You, I know I did. While you are registering though, remember that I am still hosting a giveaway this month as well.

In addition to Erin’s giveaway, I am still hosting my own... more

I called Julie tonight to talk about ATN and blog-related stuff. There is a pattern to our phone conversations. Not a pattern familiar to anyone who operates in any kind of normal sphere … but a pattern nevertheless. Here is a snippet of tonight’s dialog …

Julie: So we were at the doc’s office today and she really thinks there may be an autoimmune component to … Lulu, brush your teeth … what is happening with her GI tract … Brush … Your... more

My adopted stepson has always had a low sense of self esteem, as well as a low sense of self worth, stemming from his chaotic childhood. He was shuffled back and forth between homes and caregivers during his formative years, and then later abandoned by his birthmother, and all of it took quite a toll on his view and thoughts on himself.

He has struggled throughout his childhood to take pride both in himself, as well as in his work and accomplishments. Failure never really seemed to bother him, as he felt as though he deserved it, along with the crummy feelings that went along with it. He would revel... more

I just calculated that it is mathematically probably that someone is PMSing every single week in this household, especially since LuLu’s body is holding up its end of the deal by having a cycle every 14-18 days. So if Kay and I are not in sync, we literally have this happening all the time at our house. Thankfully, Kay and I have a bit fewer symptoms during our pre-menstrual time. But as I said at first, No Wonder My Husband Travels!

I’ve watched since Sunday as the storm has been brewing. Last week LuLu was remarkably calm, but she’s been ramping up each... more

Well we had our home visit with our social worker for our home study update this past weekend and it went really well. It was nice to see her again (B did our first home study and Ella’s post placement visit) and nice to get some affirmation about Ella’s growth and adjustment. Although she wasn’t there to check on Ella per se, she still let us know that she was happy with what she saw. This was especially true when Ella would play with her from a bit of a distance, but not hold her hand or get too close.

It was a very relaxed, pretty informal meeting. Before we really started... more

When I was still working in big media and a bizarre story would cross the wires, someone would invariably shake his head and mutter, "You just can't make this stuff up". So it is with a story that appeared in The New York Times yesterday.

Apparently, nostalgia for the Soviet Union is so strong in Russia that fashion designers there are incorporating its iconography into their clothing lines. The New York Times... more

The links that follow this post outline the steps in the Viet Nam adoption process up to this one; and this one is a BIG one! Getting your referral is an amazing, surreal experience that can have a variety of emotional impacts on one’s life.

Things have changed recently in Viet Nam adoptions and child-family matches are now being made by Vietnamese officials instead of the American adoption agencies. Once your paperwork has been processed and approved by the seemingly trillions of people who will pass it along, you will be matched with a child who fits the criteria of child... more

When you are experiencing an unplanned pregnancy, not only are you dealing with the pressure of the pregnancy itself, but you are faced with other outside pressures as you try to make decisions about your future and your baby’s future. In this post, we will explore a few of those pressures. 1. Religion - If you are a religious person, you may be dealing with the fact that you are facing an unplanned pregnancy without the "right" circumstances. Your church and religious background could be putting pressure on you with thoughts of being pregnant and unmarried... more