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April 18, 2011 Nicole B. 0 Comments

Last week it was reported that Catherine Zeta Jones checked herself into a treatment center to get support for Bipolar II disorder. My first reaction: Catherine Zeta Jones? Bipolar disorder? What? Almost everyone knows Catherine as a beautiful, talented, Academy Award winning actress with a charismatic husband (who just beat throat cancer), 2 adorable kiddos …Read More

The Journey

November 20, 2010 Nicole B., reluctant husband 0 Comments

About 4 weeks ago we made the decision to adopt again. We sent in our LOI on 10/21 for a precious little girl we have named Bella. On 10/27 we received our PA. Earlier this week I posted a story on my blog of how my husband and I made the decision to adopt another …Read More

Salt and Light

October 18, 2010 Nicole B. 0 Comments

For the past couple of days I have been thinking about what I wanted to post here. Was it a funny story about one of my kids? Was it about Luke’s MRI? Was it about Ava’s recent transition into good behavior? No. I wanted to do something more basic. Maybe answer a simple question that …Read More

{ENOUGH}

July 19, 2010 Nicole B. 6 Comments

***This month I decided to repost a blogpost that I published a short time ago. It got a lot of positive response on my blog and I also think it is very timely now that we have committed to adopting another child. This child, a precious little boy, will be our 6th adoption and our …Read More

Loving Luke

June 19, 2010 Nicole B. 6 Comments

I entitled this post Loving Luke because before Luke came home from China in May 2007…. he didn’t know love. He never knew love. Love doesn’t even capture all of what he was missing. He wasn’t fed, he wasn’t held, he wasn’t touched, he was totally and completely neglected. NEGLECT: to be remiss in the …Read More

Life As A House

May 19, 2010 Nicole B. 6 Comments

Anyone seen that movie? It was released in 2001 and the premise of the movie was about rebuilding. Not just a house but about family, faith, relationships, etc. I often reflect back on that movie. Because our son Luke’s story is also a story of rebuilding. But the rebuild was not all about him. Yes, …Read More

Birthday Realities

February 19, 2010 Nicole B. 1 Comments

*** I originally posted this on my blog in Oct 2009. Our son Luke came home from China in May 2007. *** Monday was Luke’s 4th birthday. I had planned a light airy post about Luke’s party and how far he has come since arriving home. However, that was not what the Lord laid on …Read More

A special need defined: Giant Congenital Nevus

January 19, 2010 Congenital nevus, giant congenital nevus, Nicole B. 4 Comments

*I wrote this post back in March 2009 shortly after we were matched with our new daughter Ava. Ava’s special need is Giant Congenital Nevus. I have added some additional detail now that she is home.** I have had several people email me requesting that I post some information about Ava’s special need. A commenter …Read More

In The Midst of Chaos

December 21, 2009 hypoplasia of the corpus callosum, Nicole B. 9 Comments

**I wrote this blog post prior to leaving for China to get our new daughter Ava. This topic weighed heavily on my heart. I hope that it speaks immediately to whoever needs it.** Recently there has been a lot of talk about the d-word. The big yucky word that no adoptive parent or professional wants …Read More

Making the right choice…

November 20, 2009 Nicole B. 2 Comments

Our first experience with the special needs adoption matching process was in January 2006. 3 months earlier we had completed the adoption of our daughter Kiah from the China Non Special Needs (NSN) program. The path for that program is relatively simple. Apply to agency, complete homestudy and dossier, send dossier to China, get Log-In-Date …Read More

Can I handle this????

October 15, 2009 amblyopia, developmental delays, hypoplasia of the corpus callosum, Nicole B., vision issues 10 Comments

I can still remember the first special needs checklist we ever filled out. It was March 2005. We had just sent our first dossier to China. Our checklist was quite simple. We stated cleft lip and palate, female and As Young As Possible (AYAP). My husband and I signed it and I quickly faxed it …Read More

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