August 31, 2017 attachment activities, attachment challenges, August 2017 Feature - Attachment Q & A, congenital blindness, Katie, Sensory System, vision issues, vision loss 3 Comments

Attachment. Not much more could not be packed into one single word, especially in the adoption world. We spent all of July focusing on this most-important topic and decided to continue into August – but with a bit of a twist. This month, we’re answering your attachment questions. Because we all have them – we …Read More

May 19, 2017 Katie, May 2017 Feature - For Life, undiagnosed SN 2 Comments

Are you one of the Mamas who thought that the orphanage delays would relent? You thought a year later you would stand on mountain tops and shout of the greatness and miracles of our God? And a year came and went and then another. And suddenly you wake up feeling like you are living your …Read More

January 19, 2017 Katie 6 Comments

I started out this new year of 2017 by sitting down with my kids and filling out a form for goals and ideas for goals. A small part was, “What Makes You Happy.” I watched my kids fly through and write down at least twenty things. I struggled to write down more than five. Like …Read More

December 10, 2016 Contributor Q and A, Katie, Meet the Contributors 0 Comments

Continuing today with our series in which we share a short Q and A with one of our contributors to give y’all, our faithful readers, a little more behind-the-scenes insight into the amazing group of writers assembled here. And it will also give each of our contributors a chance to share their heart in a …Read More

November 24, 2016 Katie 2 Comments

As parents who have adopted children from difficult places, fear is no stranger to us. In fact, I would dare to suggest that it is an old companion at this point. It is never far away. Fear is something so constant it takes on a persona of itself and the word fear becomes a name, …Read More

October 23, 2016 beta thalassemia major, Blood Conditions, Katie 0 Comments

Maybe it was when the hospital chaplain asked too many intrusive questions in front of him and I saw his lashes flutter to cover the fear he wanted to hide. But his eyes shuttered for just the briefest of moments and my heart started to ache. “What is his condition?” “How often does he need …Read More

July 19, 2016 July 2016 Feature - Dear Younger Me, Katie 0 Comments

If I could go back to when we started this journey, way back to sitting in those first adoption classes, I would want to take my hand and sit down and say, “Sweet thing, I love you. You are throwing yourself into changing this world. You have a grand vision. But you should know something. …Read More

May 15, 2016 Advocacy, Katie, Realities 2 Comments

I love Jesus. I love His simplicity. I love how easily He puts things into perspective. I love how when all the religious leaders wanted to prove Him wrong, false, and even sinful that His answers were never hour long oratories. Simple, concise. Believe and follow or don’t. Often I find myself in the midst …Read More

April 19, 2016 adoption realities, congenital blindness, Katie, Sensory System, vision loss 5 Comments

I was once afraid of what my reality has become. I hear it voiced in so many others taking the risk of adopting a child with possible cognitive delays. What if this child can never live independently? What if they need to live with me for the rest of my life? What if their need …Read More

February 19, 2016 adoption realities, Attachment, attachment activities, Katie, parent-to-child attachment, siblings 0 Comments

“I was so angry for so long. I felt real hate, Mom!” A child in my home recently confessed in the privacy of our conversation. They were speaking about the time when adoption trauma made its way into our home. When siblings were physically injured by a new addition, when lying became a part of …Read More

January 19, 2016 Chinese Culture, Katie 2 Comments

Let me start out by saying I love China. I have been obsessed with the country since I was seven years old. So, when the pieces finally fell together for us to adopt from China I was beyond excited. I was so ready to bring in the culture of China to our home. I studied …Read More

December 10, 2015 congenital blindness, December 2015 Feature - Sensory, Katie, Sensory System, septo optic dysplasia, vision loss 10 Comments

Fear. I can see it in the eyes of everyone who asks the question, “Can they see anything?” Then I see the frozen look of shock when I say, “Nope, not a thing, and they never will.” I see the hundred questions that they are afraid to ask. Ten months ago I did something everyone …Read More

November 19, 2015 birth family, Katie, November 2015 Feature - Embracing Their Story, telling their life story 1 Comments

Our children have stories that are a paradox of tragedy and beauty, of despair and hope. There is no easy answer to their stories. It’s complicated and so the way we handle it is complicated, and ever evolving. Children are beautiful. They are full of hope and they believe in miracles. They believe in unicorns, …Read More

October 19, 2015 adoption realities, Katie, October 2015 Feature - It Takes a Village 6 Comments

I am sure you have seen the posts. You have been given the information on how to be the village to your friends arriving home with their new, precious, yet traumatized son or daughter. You diligently studied how to be that good friend, how to give space for cocooning, how to offer meals and household …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 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

July 19, 2015 China trip, Katie 1 Comments

We arrived in Zhengzhou late our first night and saw our names on a sign and waiting for us was a man and a woman. I wasn’t sure which one was our guide, I assumed it was the stylish looking lady. As we stepped closer to our guides the overwhelming smell of alcohol side slapped …Read More

June 14, 2015 adoption realities, congenital blindness, disruption, Katie, Sensory System, undiagnosed SN, vision loss 7 Comments

My life was almost returned to normal. I would have slept better, been freer, able to eat better, clean the house, and find my way back to the normal details of everyday life. But I chose to finish the adoption, to make this girl who was so far from the one portrayed to me, my …Read More

March 13, 2015 disruption, Katie, March 2015 Feature - Disruption 22 Comments

Continuing our series on disruption, today we share a story from Katie who blogs at Surviving Adoption. If you haven’t read our other posts in this series, you can find them here and here.   Come with me on a journey for a few minutes. This is my personal journey full of triumph and failure, …Read More