Three years ago today a judge sitting in his chambers finally put his signature on a stack of papers that had been sitting in his inbox for more than a week. Of course for the better part of that time, the judge had been on vacation, so I suppose in hindsight I could cut him some slack for taking his sweet time in finalizing our adoption!

Roughly three times a day, for roughly two weeks my voice was a fixture over the phone lines at our local courthouse, desperately wanting to know if he (the judge) had put his signature at the bottom of our paperwork, making our adoption official, all of the woman who worked at the office had come to know my voice, and after a few days I no longer... more

Okay, so my last post got me thinking about the specific terms in adoption that are used to signify different steps in the adoption process; such as 'gotcha day' which is the term used in most international, and some foster care adoptions to describe the day that the parents get to meet their child. I, for one, am not a large fan of the term 'gotcha day' and don't feel that it really fits our situation since my adopted stepson had been living with me prior to his adoption.

'Adoption day' is another term that I am not too fond of. It just feels cold to me. "Happy Adoption Day" just... more

Our adoption anniversary is quickly approaching, and I am getting more excited by the day. Even though our plates here are packed full with extra life stresses, I am still thinking about the adoption day, and how we are going to make it special. Hubby and I have some things planned during the day while the kids are at school, as he is taking this very special day off from work, but we have yet to decide what we are going to do as a family once the children return from school.

We tend to celebrate... more

You know I am not one for resolutions. Sure I think that they are cute to make, and there are those who can stick to the ones that they make, however I am not one of those lucky people who can do such a task. I seem to do better if I label mine as goals, I have a higher success rate of obtaining goals than I do in sticking to resolutions.

We were at Walmart this afternoon, so that my adopted stepson could spend one of the gift certificates that he received for Christmas this year, that has been burning a hole in... more

A new year stands before all of us, and I don't know about the rest of you, but the idea of an entire year just waiting to be mapped out, a fresh slate waiting to be filled up with actions and choices, just makes me all a flutter! I love New Year's Eve, the excitement, the small sense of naughtiness that the children feel when they get to stay up late, and the togetherness of friends and family ringing in the New Year with one another.

So what will 2008 bring for you? For some this may be the year that you finally stop talking about pursuing a stepparent adoption, and start doing... more

Christmas was wonderful this year! While it looked for a time, as though my adopted stepson's adoption issues were going to come out and take a stab at sabotaging Christmas just before the holiday came, as quickly as the behaviors and attitude appeared, they were gone again, and Christmas was uneventful. We had a lovely morning, it took the kids hours to open up all of the gifts that they had waiting for them underneath the tree, and everyone had a glorious day together as a family.

My parents came, bright and early and helped us enjoy our morning as a family, and my adopted stepson was quite happy to have his grandparents there to share his day with. There were no tears, there... more

Adopted stepchildren can often have a hard time finding their place in the family. Since they are not biologically related to everyone in the household, he or she may feel as though they do not quite fit into the family. If the parents decide to have another child after the adoption of the stepchild, this can lead to even more feelings of insecurity for the child.

Whether... more

While my adopted stepson's attitude towards the end of the year holiday season has finally changed and he is now able to enjoy this time of the year, for many years we had to steer clear of many of the typical holiday activities that we had at one point enjoyed together as a family. The celebrations, the emphasis on family togetherness, they were all too much for him to handle and like many older adopted children he would act out negatively just prior to the holiday season, and it wouldn't really stop until after all of the festivities were done and over with.

There are several things that we have done in the past to help my adopted stepson with the Christmas season so that it was... more

With my own birthday over with and Thanksgiving behind us as well, it is still only the beginning of the busiest part of the year for us. We have several more birthday's crammed into the end of the year, along with the rest of the holiday celebrations. However the birthday that we have been having the most fun planning this far is that of my adopted stepsons.

This is a big year for him. Not only has it been a year of tremendous progress for him both at school as well as at home, but age... more

As November is wrapping up Adoption Awareness Month is coming to a close right along with it. There are still a few days left to celebrate foster children and lend out a helping hand to those in need, and those who take care of the children whom have no one else to take care of them.

There is still time for you to volunteer to work at your states next recruitment fair, or perhaps bake some cookies and take them down to your local foster care office. I mean in this day and age there are cookie dough mixes that absolutely anyone can bake, and if you truly aren't pastry inclined you... more