I haven’t written too much lately on life here at home, so I thought I would give a quick update.

Things are good…we have settled back into our nice routine now that school has restarted. KNOCK ON WOOD, we have not had any of the “yuck” that is going around…pink eye, throwing up, nasty colds, etc.

Belane did have to have minor surgery this morning…she had ear tubes put in. She did great…SO much better than I expected her to do. I was much more traumatized than she was (and I am only half kidding). I know that the ear tubes are no big deal and a super fast and easy procedure (our Amanda has had them put in three or four times now), but I was so worried about giving her over... more

Happy New Year everybody! My wild and crazy celebration last night included a bunch of my favorite small people, my best friend, oodles of food and way too much Chex mix! Both of our husbands were in Denver for the football game (my Christmas present to Josh), so it was a wives and kids only party.

Truth be told, we cheated…we put the New York news channel on and had the kids watch the ball fall at 10 p.m. our time…they blew some horns, wore silly hats, cheered and kissed their moms, and then all were in bed by 10:30 p.m.

Anyway,... more

Those of you that know me, even if just through this blog, know that I am not big into celebrities (at all). I have tried for the most part to even ignore the “celebrity adoptions” on my blog, although I did give in and write about Angelina here and here, and Madonna (just once!) here.... more

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I wanted to share these experiences because often you hear transracial families (including myself!) complaining about the downside of being what I call a “highly visible family”. If you join any email list about transracial adoption, you will quickly run into parents complaining and lamenting about the nosey, insensitive, prying, thoughtless, bizarre and down right rude questions/comments that all transracial adoptive families seem doomed to get every once in a while when out in public.

I have written about how to “deal” with the attention, the worst comments we have ever gotten and strategies for responding to awkward or rude comments or questions.

While... more

I had an experience while Maggie was in the hospital last week that was one of those reminders of how being a transracial adoptive family is unique.

I was up there one night, right after a shift change for the nurses. The “new” nurse that was on, is a woman that I know well from our community. She came in and sat down and we talked some about my family, life, orphanages, etc. This woman has volunteered a lot in Romania, and so we had a lot to talk about.

At the end of the conversation, she looked like she was struggling to decide whether or not to tell me something. Then she said, “Your family really touches people. Tonight, when we were changing shifts, Maggie’s last nurse... more

Ok, Ben update.

It is so easy to forget that Ben is still sort of a “new kid” around here, because honestly, he must be the easiest child ever adopted. Josh and I still comment in awe to each other once and awhile how amazing Ben is, and how amazing his adjustment to America and our family has been.

We worried at first that it was a “honeymoon” phase, that he was only on best behavior and that it was all going to “hit the fan” at some point, but if you spend any time at all with Ben, you can tell that you are getting his genuine personality, which is, genuinely wonderful, sweet, resilient, easy-going and happy.

After being home for 10 months, Ben is almost completely... more

June asked, “Here's my question - now that you have adopted children at many different ages, what are your thoughts on the differences in adjustment and/or attachment, based on the age of the child when he/she comes home?”

This is a great question. First let me say that we have adopted two infants (one newborn, one 3 months old), two toddlers (one 23 months old, one 35 months old) and three older children (two six year olds and one nine year old). We have adopted healthy kids and special needs kids. We have adopted single kids and one sibling group of two.

We have been very blessed in that none of our kids have had very challenging adjustments. Like I have said, our two older... more

I would have to say that most, if not all, of the best parenting advice I have ever gotten has come from other parents. Oddly enough…not so much from “well meaning strangers at the grocery store.” :)

Sure, I have learned a lot from books and magazines and those sorts of things, but the REALLY good stuff…the totally practical, AHA-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that sort of stuff, has come from other moms (and dads).

So, after blathering on for three posts yesterday about our “babymoon” and what my plans are for when Belane comes home and how I think I will handle things and what I expect things to be like, now I look to you for some help. Tell me what I’ve missed! Tell me what you... more

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As far as doctor appointments go, while we don’t want to traumatize her right away with lots of poking and prodding, getting her evaluated and getting her treatments started, both for her HIV and for her hearing loss, are definitely a big priority. We have made an appointment with her awesome Pediatric Infectious Disease specialist (who is also an international adoption doctor) for the middle of November, and we will have her seen by our family doctor and the audiologist/ENT soon after coming home as well.

Two more tips for the “babymoon” that I have learned are one, be flexible and two, ask for help when needed.

Being flexible is essential... more

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I will spend a lot of time on the floor with the little kids…so we can play and they can be in and out of my lap as they want. I will spend a lot of time holding Belane, rocking Belane…giving her the physical contact that helps so much with bonding. I bought a toddler hip carrier so I can “wear” her if she likes that. (She loves to be “up” is what everyone is telling us and what I noticed when I was there in February).

We are putting the finishing touches on her room downstairs, (which she will be sharing with big sister Des), but I plan on having her sleep with us in the beginning…either on a mat on the floor next to our bed or in our bed,... more