In my last post I started sharing a few of the challenges we had in our early days with Belane. Here are a few more. I hope that in sharing them, they can help prepare you for common behaviors in newly adopted children.

- Going along with the mom anxiety, she had to be physically touching me to fall asleep. Actually, in the beginning she had to be on top of me to let herself fall asleep. It made the long flight home tough, because any time she had to be buckled into her seat and wanted to sleep, she got very sad. I slowly "weaned" her into falling asleep next to me (but cuddling), and... more

In my last post I wrote about some of the pleasant surprises we had in our early days with Belane. In this post I will share some of the challenges that we faced with adopting a three year-old from Ethiopia (she turned three years old on our first day home). Some of the challenges were expected and some were not.

- She was really, really, really anxious about always being near me. I mean she was super anxious. She really liked having a mom, and wanted to be sure that I was not going to disappear. If I closed the door to go to the bathroom, if I closed the shower curtain all the way or if... more

I need to wrap up my little mini-series of posts on meeting our children and our early days together, and all that I have left (for now) is Miss Belane. Since I have already written a ton about meeting her and our early days together (see below), I thought I would share some of the behaviors she had that were challenging, and some of the things that pleasantly surprised us.

Happy surprises in our early days with Belane:

- She liked me! Although I treasured the memories of the first time I had met Belane and spent time with her, I knew that she had surely forgotten that day. I also knew that she was fairly shy, and was at an age common for stranger anxiety. I was deeply in love... more

One of the comments I get in regards to my family more often than any other is, "I don't know how you do it." Well the thing is, truth be told, I don't. At least I don't do it by myself. I look at my life and it works as well as it does, because Josh and I work together so well.

So today, in honor of Love Thursday, I am dedicating this post to Josh, my husband of eleven years, my very best friend, and an incredible dad to eleven children. I say eleven kids already, because even though Solomon is not home yet, he is very much already in our hearts and a part of our family.... more

I have been writing about how we experienced many unexpected emotions on our trip to adopt our son, Ben, from Ethiopia.

Another emotion that we were not prepared for before our trip to Ethiopia was that of love for the culture and people of Ethiopia, and personal dedication to giving back and trying to make even a small difference in a place we came to love in a very short time. It sounds very cliche to say that our trip was life-changing, and yet it was. Both Josh and I returned home from Ethiopia with the knowledge that we would return, and that we would have a life-long involvement... more

To wrap up writing about Ben and his adoption process, and what it was like for us as adoptive parents, I have to write some about our trip.

Getting a new, almost six-year old son is an emotional, overwhelming, amazing, life-changing event. However, traveling to Africa for the first time and experiencing all that is Ethiopia for the first time is also an emotional, overwhelming, amazing, life-changing event. When you put the two together, you are setting yourself up for one heck of a ride.

The... more

After meeting Ben and getting to spend some early bonding time with him on our first day together, he chose to come back to the hotel with us that first night, and so started our journey together as family.

The Ben that was shy and nervous around us completely blossomed as soon as we left the orphanage. He was happy and animated, and eagerly played with Legos, crayons and other treasures we had brought. We found ways to communicate, and we were quickly impressed with how smart he was.... more

In my last post I wrote about meeting Benjamin (who was then almost six years old in Ethiopia) for the first time.

After that first meeting in which he was smiley but also shy, one of the nannies said something to the kids, and they all ran off. Ben left us standing there and didn't look back. Josh and I followed the kids to where they were playing soccer, and quickly joined in the fun. Ben played with us, however so did all of the other kids and Ben did not seek us out or claim us in any way.

That is pretty much how that first morning went. We followed the kids and tried to... more

After adopting an infant and a toddler internationally and then adopting a newborn and two older children domestically, we were feeling pretty confident in our experience level.

The next child to join our family was our Benjamin Bekalu from Ethiopia. Ben was about five years old when we accepted his referral, and we felt that he would fit... 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