Today is the last day of 2007. This is the last day that adoptions in Guatemala will be processed under the old system. Tragically, this could be the last year of adoptions from Guatemala.

It has been a difficult year to be a blogger for Guatemala. I’ve had a difficult time remaining optimistic about the future of Guatemalan adoptions, and been busy defending adoptions from lies and inaccuracies spread by the media. I’ve also been made even more acutely aware of the corruption that was part of some adoptions, although I don’t believe the majority.

Thousands... more

To celebrate the end of 2007 on the transracial adoption blog, I am sharing my 12 favorite posts from the year. I have already shared posts 12 through nine in my countdown and posts eight through five, and now I am going to wrap it up by sharing posts four through one. :)

If you have a favorite post of mine from this past year that I didn't mention, please leave... more

Madonna can breath a little easier these days as she is to be granted full custody of the little boy that she has been trying to adopt from Malawi for some time now, David. In his glowing report, the social worker who visited Madonna, described the famous singer as "the perfect mum for David" and " a confident and able parent".

The social worker, Simon Chisale, also cited in his report that Madonna's husband, Guy Richie, has formed a strong bond of "warm, playful interaction," with little David. David's biological father, Yohane Banda, still in Malawi, says that... more

Well, we had grand thoughts, at least! Our much anticipated anniversary didn’t start off at all like we had thought or hoped.

My youngest began the day as he often does, by making a discordant cacophony of noise in his room, enough to wake up everyone in the household. He got his radio taken away.

My daughter, for the second time in about three days, peed “accidentally” and “couldn’t control” it. She’s been on TV restriction (because that was when this problem most... more

This is it … the last entry of the year. Hard to believe I have been blogging on adoption.com for two years now! I must say, it did feel good to slow down a bit this month. After I write this blog, I’m going to walk my dogs, feed them, and then settle in to do some sewing this afternoon. Benny Boy starts his thyroid meds today … I’m most anxious to see what happens.

I guess it is only fitting that I end this year’s entries by addressing Lindy’s poignant comments... more

I like New Year resolutions. I do. Not everyone does. And I'm not saying I always keep mine. But I really, really like that "fresh start, clean slate" that a new year offers people. I like the ability to say, "So, I may not have been perfect this past year, but I'm going to do something awesome this year."

Do I feel like a failure when I don't succeed? It depends. As an example, one of my resolutions in 2007 was to read 50 books throughout the year. (Children's books didn't count or I'd have met the goal three or four-fold!) They had to be books for me! Do you know... more

Like any subject, adoption is full of controversy. With adoption being so personal, people are often prone to fight to the virtual death when someone suggests that something that has happened in the past isn't "right." We saw some of that virtual fighting here on the birth-first parent blog.

Because the good and the bad have to happen in a year and so does the drama! Let's review!

1. I got everyone... more

On November 9th, I blogged about these six beautiful little baby girls waiting to join their forever families in the US; all families that I’ve personally met. To date, the only one on her way home is Isabelle, who will join her family in the US at the beginning of January 2008. Congratulations to her family!

The other little girls are in various stages of the process: Rachel and Isabella have been in PGN for quite a while, and Nola, Sadie and Madeline are not... more

Christmas was wonderful this year! While it looked for a time, as though my adopted stepson's adoption issues were going to come out and take a stab at sabotaging Christmas just before the holiday came, as quickly as the behaviors and attitude appeared, they were gone again, and Christmas was uneventful. We had a lovely morning, it took the kids hours to open up all of the gifts that they had waiting for them underneath the tree, and everyone had a glorious day together as a family.

My parents came, bright and early and helped us enjoy our morning as a family, and my adopted stepson was quite happy to have his grandparents there to share his day with. There were no tears, there... more

I have one last blog to post for 2007. I thought I’d scour back through my end-of-the-year postings for 2006 (our year of infamy) to enable myself to reflect on what’s different and what’s the same.

Well, I’d like to report that 2007 was incredibly easier than 2006…but that’s not necessarily true. In 2006, I wrote a three-part blog on the Good, the Bad and the Utterly Ridiculous events of the year. This year, they can be condensed into one blog…so maybe things are getting better.

The Good

1. Kay and her great grades.... more