August 31, 2015 China trip, Gotcha Day, July/August 2015 Feature - Going to China!, Stefanie 4 Comments

Today is the last day of August, which means it’s the end of our two-month feature, Going to China!, as well as our final post in the series. We’ve spent July and August covering everything from travel tips to orphanage behaviors – 23 posts in all. We hope it’s been a great resource, whether you …Read More

August 31, 2015 Down syndrome, orphan hosting 0 Comments

Pause. The best way I can describe the way my life feels right now is that it is on pause. On pause because I met my daughter, spent five beautiful weeks with her, and then promptly returned her to the airport just like I had guaranteed I would do. For me, the whole idea of …Read More

August 30, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

Belinda is a BEAUTIFUL little girl (Born January 2008) with pink rosebud lips and wispy hair. She gets along well with other children and has a quiet, gentle personality. She especially enjoys playing with other children her age. Her caregivers report that she is very sharp! She is able to count, name colors and shapes, …Read More

August 29, 2015 Education, Kelly, public school 0 Comments

I don’t think our school district fully grasps the whole paperless concept. I’m staring at a stack of forms they’ve called “children’s homework” that I must complete. Somehow, the paperwork required to send our children to public school each year feels like we’re assembling an entire dossier. There’s even a fingerprinting form somewhere in this …Read More

August 28, 2015 China trip, feeding challenges, first weeks home, first year home, July/August 2015 Feature - Going to China!, Katie, oral-motor delays, refusing food 1 Comments

When we were adopting our two new daughters we were not really well prepared for what they could or could not eat. We knew one of the girls was severely malnourished, but we did not understand that it was entirely possible that nobody taught them how to eat or drink. Neither of our new daughters …Read More

August 28, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

Aspen is an adorable one year old who has deformity of both legs. He is part of our orphanage partnership program. His left leg seems to more affected than his right leg. His file also reports some mild heart conditions. Aspen can stand holding onto something (as you can see in his recent video) and …Read More

August 27, 2015 Carrie, Education, hearing loss, pre-school, public school, speech delay 2 Comments

Dear Teachers, Here we go! The start of a new year! First of all, you both have my great admiration. I do not know how you do it. The energy, patience, and creativity it takes to shape, mold, and sometimes just wrangle a whole crew of almost-three-year-olds is something I do not possess. I’m so …Read More

August 26, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

Beautiful Sophie was born in February 2002 according to parts of her file. This makes her 13 years old already and she will age out next February. Other parts of her file indicate a date that is two years younger. She needs a family who is willing to rush to her before she ages out, …Read More

August 25, 2015 adoption realities, Amy A. 10 Comments

From the time I was a young girl, I always felt the Lord’s presence and His pursuit of my heart. However, I did not begin regularly attending church or consistently studying God’s word until a while after my husband and I got married. In the spring of 2007, we joined a “small group,” and every …Read More

August 24, 2015 China trip, July/August 2015 Feature - Going to China!, Whitney 0 Comments

We have been home for six months and this is the first time that I’m actually sitting down and processing our trip to China. For a while, it was just too fresh, you know? The thought of any attempt in organizing my thoughts made my brain hurt, and so I just didn’t. But now, I …Read More

August 23, 2015 Attachment, first year home, Nicole 0 Comments

It’s been 9 months since Dumpling has been in our arms. It also marks about 6 months of him seeking me out as “mama” and “mom” and “mommy.” I had to work hard for those titles though, they didn’t come easily. For the first couple months, he didn’t refer to me or DH as anything. He simply walked over …Read More

August 22, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

I’m so lucky to get to introduce you to Paxton! He was born August of 2012. Paxton has been diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta, otherwise known as Brittle Bone Disease. Paxton was abandoned outside of a local police station. He was estimated to be six months old. He was taken to the local Social Welfare Institute …Read More

August 21, 2015 Desiree, orphan ministry 1 Comments

And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to …Read More

August 20, 2015 Attachment, first year home, hoarding, July/August 2015 Feature - Going to China!, orphanage behaviors 1 Comments

With both of our adoptions, we knew that parenting these children would look a bit different than parenting our biological children. Despite all the trainings and reading prior to the adoption, we ended up desperately re-reading “The Connected Child” on the flight home, trying to piece together some of the strange “orphanage behaviors” our children …Read More

August 19, 2015 China trip, Chinese Culture, July/August 2015 Feature - Going to China!, Katie 3 Comments

If you are in the process of adopting from China or have been in the past you know all about the dreaded holidays that seem to happen every month. You think you have a good timeline of when adoption/gotcha will take place and then you slam smack dab into the Autumn season of the beginning …Read More

August 18, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

Today we are sharing four children who are waiting to be adopted. All four of them have tested HIV positive. They all need a family. Please visit this page to learn more about adopting a child with HIV and read stories of famiiies who have Due to the sensitivity of this special need we are …Read More

August 15, 2015 attachment activities, China trip, Jean, orphanage behaviors, travel tips 0 Comments

Here I am writing about bonding while in China when the truth is…. I’m not so good at it! When we are in China there are so many emotions swirling around for our newly adopted child as well as myself that initial bonding is not my first priority… survival is! So maybe this is more …Read More

August 14, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

Bryce is a handsome boy who recently turned 11 years old. He came into care when he was a few months old; a healthy, happy baby boy who was missing his left forearm. Bryce reached his developmental milestones on time, and is a very smart and talented boy. He started school in 2009 and this …Read More

August 13, 2015 August 2015 Feature - Infectious, Family Stories, HIV, Infectious 2 Comments

I had read a few blogs of people who had adopted HIV children from Africa and thought, “Wow. I could never do that. That sounds too hard.” Our hearts were lead to adopt for the third time from China. HIV was not even remotely on our radar because we had never heard of an HIV …Read More

August 12, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

This sweet little guy’s name is Charlie and he is 3 years old. His special need is listed as thalassemia. Charlie is described as being a very happy kiddo! His caretakers have said that he has good mental and physical development and that he has learned to do many things on his own. He is …Read More

August 11, 2015 Amy, China trip, siblings 2 Comments

This month we are highlighting time in China and coincidently, dear friends of ours are in China right now as I write, hours away from traveling to their daughter’s province and seeing her face to face. By the time this posts, they will have her and will almost have finished their time in China. So, …Read More

August 10, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

Little Jessica just turned 6 in May and is picture perfect!! She was found at about 3.5 years old and was unable to walk alone. She has increased muscular tension in her lower limbs. Upon admission she was noted to be quiet and adorable, liked to watch TV and draw, could use a spoon to …Read More

August 8, 2015 Family Found 0 Comments

Goodness gracious! We have the sweetest little fellow to share with you today! You ready for this? Joel is a sweet loving little boy who is five years old and is currently listed with CCAI. He loves to play with other children and he loves hugs when he sees someone he is familiar with. According …Read More

August 7, 2015 August 2015 Feature - Infectious, Family Stories, Infectious, TB testing, tuberculosis 5 Comments

It took us a couple of weeks to get into the pediatrician after we got home from China. It wasn’t a big deal that we were waiting so long though. We’d already seen a nurse practitioner for the urgent medical issues, a specialist for her documented special needs, and the medical visit in China. We …Read More

• tuberculosis

August 5, 2015 first year home, hoarding, orphanage behaviors, Whitney 0 Comments

“If the child is older, he or she may hide toys or hoard food, because that is what they’d do in the orphanage if given the chance” – Silent Tears: A Journey of Hope in a Chinese Orphanage “Hey, Mom?  I can’t find the container that has the hair clips in it.” My oldest daughter …Read More

August 4, 2015 Central Nervous System, cerebral palsy, Family Stories 5 Comments

The 30 seconds that it took for the doctor to pull up the images from the MRI seemed to take an eternity. It seemed as though time was at a standstill, which I might have thought was true if it wasn’t for the shrieking and laughing coming from our artificial twins by adoption, who were …Read More

August 3, 2015 cl/cp, cleft lip, Craniofacial, Jennifer 0 Comments

You remember that moment when time sort of stands still? When you have the file of a precious one in front of you and you allow yourself to begin to love that child just a little in your heart, and as you open up to the brown of her eyes, or his crooked smile; you …Read More

August 3, 2015 China trip, July/August 2015 Feature - Going to China!, Nicole, siblings 2 Comments

Continuing into August with our Going to China series, because one month just isn’t long enough to cover all things China-trip related! Today Nicole shares how she successfully traveled to China as a family of 6. Upcoming topics include orphanage behaviors, undisclosed special needs, different ways children react at placement, and how to cope with feeding and attachment issues …Read More

August 2, 2015 Liberty, What We're Reading 0 Comments

Hello August, hello new family travel blogs (my favorite!), and hello news articles and posts of interest! Thank you to everyone who contributed to this month’s compilation, keep the links coming! To share a blog post or news article go here. To share your blog with our readers, as a soon-to-be traveling family, go here. …Read More

August 1, 2015 August 2015 Feature - Infectious, Family Stories, HIV, Infectious 1 Comments

Continuing to spotlight different special needs each month, we just finished up a month of posts from moms parenting kids with craniofacial needs. This month we are focusing on infectious special needs: HIV, Hepatitis B, Syphilis and Tuberculosis. Grateful for each and every mom who shares so others might be encouraged to consider a special need that …Read More