"You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:7).

The elders of the church we attend paid us a visit last night. They make it a point to visit every member of the congregation on a yearly basis to meet in the home of every member to see how things are going.

My husband serves as one of the deacons, so our family is very close to these elders. And, as we sat around comfortably talking, we... more

As a kid, I loved board games, but never played the very popular Game of Life. Now, as an adult, I still love games, though I play more of them on the computer than anything else.

Imagine, then, my joy at finding a “newfangled” version of the game of Life for the computer! But, boy, is it ever fast-paced. With my ADD, there are times in the game where I just get mind-boggled with all the activity going on! At various stages of... more

An expectant mother considering adoption recently asked me:

“I have recently chosen a couple that will become my baby’s adoptive parents. I still have about ten weeks of my pregnancy left and would like to spend time with the adoptive family getting to know them better however my parents think I shouldn’t. What are your thoughts on this?”

Once I had chosen S and A to be Charlie’s parents and we were moving forward with the adoption plan I, like you, wanted to spend a lot of time with them getting to know them better.

I had a few... more

Hereditary Spherocytosis is a relatively uncommon blood disorder, occurring in 1 person out of approximately 5,000.

As the name suggests, the condition is primarily an inherited one. With this condition, the blood cells are mutated, and are atypical cells with very thin walls. Because the cells are not the shape healthy red lbood cells are, they have difficulty passing through the body. However, unlike sickled cells, they do not cause pain as they pass through the body. A hallmark of the condition is that the spleen retains these cells longer because of their... more

Many parts of the body are affected by Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. Infants affected with this syndrome are considerably larger than normal. Technically, it is referred to as macrosomia. Beckwith-Wiedemann is classified as an overgrowth syndrome. Children who are diagnosed with this syndrome continue to grow and gain weight at an unusual rate during childhood. By the time these children reach the age of eight years, their growth begins to slow down. As they reach adulthood, their height should be comparable... more

In my last post, I wrote about how there can be an initial change in the closeness between the adoptive mother and birthmother once the baby is born. Writing that post got me thinking in general about the friendship between adoptive mothers and birthmothers.

It is pretty common nowadays for adoptive mothers and birthmothers to be friends or be friendly with one another at the very least. This is very different from birthmothers and adoptive mothers of previous generations as they didn’t... more

As each of my boys grow older and achieve new things, I am aware of those things that I missed as the Munchkin grew. While I rejoice with my boys, my heart takes a moment and mourns those lost moments. And let me tell you, over the past year, I've had a myriad of little mourning moments. My older son, now two-and-a-half, has been accomplishing things left and right.

Sometimes, I am okay with these things. For example, he recently painted me his first finger-painting.... more

We’re adding onto the previous bedtime rituals we have: family prayer time; family cheer; group hug; spraying the pillows with lavender pillow spray; and playing a soothing lullabye on the lap-harp.

In the congregation where hubby and I attend, there have been nine babies born over the last few months. Therefore, the congregation has a Biblical Parenting class to help new parents (and “old” parents) alike. So, as... more

Many times during pregnancy, the expectant mother may become close to the adoptive parents, usually the adoptive mother especially. While I think that bonding between these two mothers is great and could lead to a more positive open adoption experience later on down the road, it can also be a bit troubling at first post adoption.

I know many birthmothers who have become very close to their child’s adoptive mother during the pregnancy, but once the baby is born the level of closeness changes. They may have been chatting on the phone daily, emailing back and forth through... more

As strange as it may sound, even foster children are given goals in the reunification plan. The foster children, like their parents, are expected to make progress towards their assigned goals. Their progress is reviewed every 90 days by the court at the review hearings. The goals for the children vary depending on their ages, developmental levels, and needs. It is up to the foster parents and caseworkers involved in the case to assist foster children in achieving most of their assigned goals. This is because most foster children do not have a car or a driver’s... more