The next shared list is scheduled to be released tomorrow night, December 19th, US time, December 20th China time. Wonderful news for all families waiting to be matched! Congratulations to all families in the Special Needs program, whether you find your child on shared list, the Special Focus list or an individual agency list… it’s [...]
Self-soothing
December 17, 2012 by 9 Comments
Perhaps one of the biggest challenges we have faced with our 4-year-old daughter is helping her find a new way to self-soothe. One crucial piece of information that her caretakers failed to tell us on adoption day was that Grace (and presumably all the babies in her orphanage) sucked on a scrap of cloth in [...]
Adopting Two with the Same Special Need
December 13, 2012 by 4 Comments
Our first four adopted children from China have all had completely different special needs: radial club hands, cl/cp, bi-lateral microtia, and CHD. Our 5th adoption was our 5 year old Keith, who has radial club hands like our 7 year old daughter from China. When we saw his picture and his hands, we were amazed [...]
Family Medical History: How Much Do You Want to Know?
December 7, 2012 by 1 Comment
I have a great-grandmother, Verna, who lived to 103 years old. She tended her garden and lived in her own home until the very end, passing peacefully in her sleep. Verna is a shining star on my family medical history. My own father had debilitating arthritis as a child, as did a great uncle. Autoimmune [...]
Advent
December 1, 2012 by 1 Comment
I’ve been pondering Christmas a lot lately. It’s December, after all, and well… it’s just been on my mind. The season of Advent… or the coming of the Lord. How long God’s people waited for it. Imagined it. Prepared for it. Prayed and asked and begged for it. For the Advent. It’s running through my [...]
Give them grace
November 30, 2012 by 6 Comments
We’ve been pretty fortunate in avoiding the awkward public questions about adoption. We certainly get some odd stares here and there, along with lots of smiles. But we don’t get offensive questions. We get questions, sure. And there have been a couple times when I wanted to make a sarcastic comment, but of course I [...]
next shared list
November 26, 2012 by 3 Comments
The next shared list is scheduled to be released tonight, November 26th! A new shared list is wonderful news for all families waiting to be matched! Congratulations to all families in the Special Needs program, whether you find your child on shared list, the Special Focus list or an individual agency list… it’s always wonderful [...]
Identity Crisis
November 17, 2012 by 5 Comments
Last night, my husband and I joined about 180 folks from our city of Birmingham to view the documentary Somewhere in Between, a film that follows four Chinese girls adopted into American families. The movie articulates their challenges with feeling neither completely Chinese, nor totally American. The girls, now in their teens, conclude that they [...]
China’s waiting children
November 12, 2012 by 3 Comments
Compiled by Nancy to help families looking to grow their families by adoption from China’s waiting child program. Advocate for Waiting Children (Yahoo group - will need to join group - shared list kept in “files” section) Click here to be taken to group. A.A.C. (Adoption agency) Click here to be taken to “Waiting Kids List.” America World Adoption (Adoption agency – will need to [...]
Language: Could he have kept the Mandarin?
November 7, 2012 by 16 Comments
We met our son just a few month’s shy of his fourth birthday. He spoke clearly (clearly enough for us to understand many of his basic phrases), he had no speech impediments and was a good communicator. Our guide in his province said, “He speaks well and knows very much.” At home in the United [...]
