|Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part 5 (Warning: This is VERY long, so save it to read when you have a few minutes.) After meeting our girls, we went to their rooms to get their things. The girls shared rooms not with each other, but rather with...
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Our trip to get the girls began inauspiciously.   Before we boarded our first plane (of the 3-plane /30-hour trip) our two year old was already whining and refusing to walk or even ride in the stroller. All she wanted was mom to carry her. John and I looked at each other shaking our...
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Not long ago a friend reminded me I hadn’t yet finished telling the adoption story of our two girls who came home in 2007 at the ages of 11 and 9.  I’ll see if I can get it wrapped up in the next week or so.   (Here’s the beginning of the story if you...
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One of the things that makes adoption more affordable for families is the adoption tax credit from the U.S. government. (That credit was $12,150 for adoptions finalized in 2009). In past years, that credit was non-refundable.  In 2010, for the first time it is a refundable credit. That’s great news for adoptive families with...
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This morning I spent a bit of time responding via email to a mom of a toddler who had been home from Ethiopia for several months and who was wearing her momma out with her whining and clinging.   The mom feels that the child is attaching, because she makes good eye contact and seeks...
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Call me crazy but what if we learn To love our brother for nothing in return? Oh how the rules would change Reaching out to the ones who need help Treating them as you first would treat yourself Now that would be insane It may just be crazy enough To work if we could...
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Most conferences speakers are asked months ahead of time. I am sure that was the case for most of the very excellent speakers I heard at Together for Adoption.  But the talk that most touched my heart was given by a substitute, asked two days before when someone else got sick. Substitute he was. ...
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I’ve got a couple of more recap posts from T4A– wow, such an awesome weekend.  I want to tell you the story of Pharaoh’s daughter and the basket in the river. (Point to ponder:  ya think she just HAPPENED to go to the river to bathe when she knew her daddy was killing boy...
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This song was written by Aaron Ivey for his son from Haiti. Aaron’s band played multiple times during the adoption conference this weekend– a huge highlight for me.
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(This is the gist of two different Karyn Purvis seminars I attended this weekend.) Understanding the attachment cycle is key to understanding why many adopted children struggle with trust. Kids learn trust, worth and self efficacy by having their needs met over and over in the first year of life. A responsive parent says...
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