Sometimes Love Is War
August 27, 2014
Attachment, Carrie, first year home, journey to adoption, microtia
She’s been clawing – literally, until I cut her fingernails – at my legs all day long. Whining and whimpering and the hours go so slow I sometimes wonder if the clock is moving at all. Cora entertains herself, like she does almost every day lately, and I squelch the feelings that I’m letting her …Read More
Not Bad For 3 Months
June 27, 2014
Carrie, journey to adoption, microtia
It’s only been three months, but she looks like a different child. I can hardly believe how Alea has transformed in the 90 days since she joined our family. She has gained 4 pounds, for one. She’s developed a bit of a pot belly and pudgy little cheeks. Alea’s such a little dumpling in more …Read More
A Birth Story
May 27, 2014
Carrie, journey to adoption
Motherhood always starts with a birth story. Because no matter if you pull your baby out of a birthing pool with your own two hands, receive her from the arms of a social worker outside the hospital nursery, or pull him – screaming – from the arms of the orphanage worker who brought him halfway …Read More
Coloring in the Back Seat
February 27, 2014
Carrie, journey to adoption
This time next month, we should have our little one in our arms. Those words don’t feel real even as I type them. Our application was approved on April 26,2013, and we settled in to what we thought would be a 2-3 year process. But if all goes as planned, we should be back in …Read More
As They Should Be
December 27, 2013
Carrie, journey to adoption
Last year, I was in China with Cora when Alea was born. Of course, I didn’t know it at the time, but we were there. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the fact that I was standing on the same hard ground as her for those few days she spent with her mother. …Read More
Finding Her
November 27, 2013
Carrie, journey to adoption
A funny thing happened while I was writing my last post for NHBO. I found my daughter. It wasn’t at all how I expected it to happen. I paused in the middle of writing and clicked over to our agency’s waiting child page… my eyes drifted over the photos; most had been there several weeks …Read More
Broken Hearts
October 27, 2013
Carrie, journey to adoption
A few months ago, I was visiting friends at the courtside of a pick-up basketball game happening in our church gym. Our children were playing in the out-of-bounds area at the opposite end of the court from the game, rolling a ball and engrossed in the kind of game toddlers contrive. At one point, without …Read More
rain
October 1, 2013
Carrie, journey to adoption
So excited to welcome our newest contributor Carrie, a friend and fellow orphan advocate. Carrie and her husband Jacob spent four years caring for orphans at New Day Foster home in China, where they also welcomed daughter Cora. Now, back in the US, Carrie and Jacob are beginning the journey to adopt through China’s special …Read More