As I dream of traveling and am going over my packing lists and starting to think about what I will pack for our trip to Ethiopia to get Solomon, I thought it would be a fun idea to start doing some product reviews and recommendations on things I have on my packing lists.

Today I am going to recommend this awesome fleece pouch from Kangaroo Korner.

I have been a believer in slings and carriers for a long time, and I believe that with newly... more

Unless you are adopting through your local foster care agency or are having a child escorted, you will be doing some sort of traveling for your adoption. Most international adoptions involve international travel, and domestic adoption can involve travel to the next state or to the other side of the country. While most people think of adoption travel in regards to international adoption, our longest adoption trip was that to South Carolina to get our son, Marcus.

Since travel is one of the exciting parts of adoption, and the part that many adoptive... more

All adoptive parents know that money, and how to come up with enough of it to pay for an adoption, is often a huge concern when deciding to adopt. International adoptions almost always end up costing over $10,000 (and sometimes double or triple that) between agency fees, homestudy fees, immigration fees and travel or escorting costs.

Fees for domestic adoptions are often in the $10-20,000 range, with exceptions (sometimes) for special... more

I know that Christmas still feels a way off, but I am here to remind you (sorry) that Halloween is just around the corner, and after Halloween, then Thanksgiving and Christmas are here before you know it. I know that as of today, there are only 70-something shopping days left until Christmas already (how is that for some stress??)

I can proudly say that I have already started my shopping. I haven't gotten much, and with an adoption in the works, there won't be money for too much besides the kids, but I found a wonderful organization and a wonderful gift idea that I... more

As a lot of you know, I am the donations/supplies coordinator for AHOPE For Children, an organization that provides a nurturing home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for orphaned HIV-positive children, provides care for HIV+ children in the community through their outreach program and helps to educate the community about AIDS prevention. The children at AHOPE are now receiving antiretroviral drugs--thanks to Jane Aronson's Worldwide Orphans Foundation--and are thriving. (For more about the organization, please see their website.)

Because AHOPE has a very limited budget for basic items like clothing, diapers and toys, we depend on the generosity... more

I have been writing about the things I have learned in the "Because They Waited" adoptive parenting course. In the beginning of the course they state that adoptive parents have a responsibility to share good adoptive parenting information with other adoptive parents, so I hope that some of you will find some useful information in these posts.

The fourth and final topic that was included in the testing portion of the course was titled, "What DO You Need to Know About Attachment?"

This topic started off by giving some definitions.... more

I have been sharing some of the advice that I garnered from an adoptive parenting course that I took over the weekend. The course is titled "Because They Waited" and it looks at the affects that children may have from starting their lives in less than optimal conditions, and it offers practical parenting advice to adoptive parents.

In my last few posts I wrote about the course in general and the first two modules, which were "Making the Connections" (on brain development) and the Cycle... more

I have been writing about an adoptive parenting education course that I took over the weekend titled "Because They Waited" by Heart of the Matters Seminars. The four-DVD course takes a detailed look into what affects are commonly seen in adopted children who started their lives in less than optimal circumstances (such as foster care, an orphanage or an abusive or neglectful birth home) and then gives parents practical, hands on advice and strategies that... more

In my last post I started writing about the adoption education course that I took over the weekend titled, "Because They Waited" by Heart of the Matters Seminars. I shared some of the general rules of thumb that were presented and my feelings overall on the course. In these next few posts, I will share some of what I learned in each of the topics.

The first topic and section (or module as they... more

This past weekend I took an adoption education course. It is one of the courses that agencies are using to fulfill the mandatory 10 hours of parent training, which is required for Hague accreditation. (If you're wondering why we were fulfilling an adoption education requirement, stay tuned. I will be sharing our big announcement this week). Now focus on this useful information and stop trying to guess what we are up to! :)

The course we took was titled "Because They Waited" and it is produced by "Heart of the Matters Seminars", whose tag-line states that they are "shedding light on adoptive parenting issues." The course is four... more