I have written in other posts about the importance of keeping your child’s story private, and wanted to offer some tips about how to do just that. When we were first learning about adoption, my husband and I had never given a second thought to keeping our daughter’s story private. It just wasn’t something that had occurred to us. Luckily, we were presented with the following scenario at our home study class:

Say you know that your child’s birth mother was a teenage drug and alcohol addict, and you... more

Music plays an extremely large and important role in my family’s daily life. We love to watch “Jack’s Big Music Show” and “Little Einsteins” on television. Both shows are centered around music and Ella just can’t get enough of it. Classical, contemporary, jazz, she loves it all – especially if it has a strong beat to it. She will stop whatever it is that she’s doing if she hears a song she likes, head to the source of the music and clap, wiggle and bounce to the tune. It is also part of her sleeping ritual to have a classical... more

Watch out all you pool owners! Ella's coming for you and she won't stop until she has explored every swimming option available to her! Ella's aunt and uncle have a beautiful swimming pool at their home that provided her with her first big pool swimming experience this past weekend. Now that she’s enjoyed the vastness of their pool, our dinky little blow up baby pool in the backyard may not be good enough for her.

She really did great swimming, and even more importantly, she did great socializing with the other children... more

I was scanning through websites looking for photographs of Viet Nam that would take me back to my time there, and this picture fit the bill perfectly. Here we see a roadside bicycle repair shop, which are extremely common along city streets in Viet Nam. I was amazed when we saw our first motorbike repair “shop”. I noticed a jack and an air hose that led to a compressor type machine and wondered why these things were sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. It was after seeing a few of these set ups... more

Thank you to Virginia over at the Russia Adoption Blog for writing about New Jersey’s proposed adoption leave bill. It’s interesting because I heard about this bill on the radio today and didn’t give it a second thought. That was because the radio announcer failed to mention that it specifically mentions that the leave will apply to newly adopted children. The announcer only said that New Jersey was sending a... more

When a woman gives birth to a baby, she often will remark that she was able to forget the pain of pregnancy and labor as soon as she saw her baby’s face. Many say that this is how women go on to birth more than one child. For us, it’s different, but similar at the same time.

Our first days in Viet Nam with Ella, and even more so, the first weeks at home, seem surreal. I’m not quite sure how we got through it, but I think a large part was not being completely aware of how hard it was at the time. The adjustment to... more

This was the statement that came out of Ella’s pediatrician’s mouth at our most recent office visit. It was said to the physician’s assistant student who is training with our doctor. Ella’s examination with the doctor was over and she was reaching towards this student. She really wanted to get at the blinds covering the window behind her, but I said “Oh, do you want a hug?” and the student smiled, to which our doctor replied “You don’t hug adopted kids.” Huh.

I am fully aware about the importance of attachment and I know that this doctor did not think we should let anyone hold Ella when we first got home, but I was a little taken aback by her comment. She said it lightly and kind of... more

Love is independence. Actually, love is a child feeling safe enough to explore their independence. Ella is developing a bit of an independent streak and it is fascinating to watch her figure out her little world that she’s a part of. She has started “asking” if it’s okay to do certain things. She asks by looking intently at or pointing to the object or activity in question, looking at me with eyebrows raised and vigorously nodding her head up and down. When I respond with my own nod and tell her yes, you should see the... more

Thanh Nien News is reporting that a Vietnamese-American official is proposing a shopping center in San Jose, California that would be called Vietnam Town and would cater to the over 80,000 people of Vietnamese descent that live in the area. This Vietnamese business district would house over two hundred Vietnamese-run businesses and would celebrate the northern, central and southern regions of Viet Nam. Viet Nam Town would also be home to Wal Mart and a large supermarket.

While supporters of Viet Nam Town are excited about offering Vietnamese business owners the opportunity to own their own stores and increasing... more

After only having our daughter for a short time, one of the other moms in our group came back from shopping with a little doll for Ella. Her first doll! She was a handmade Vietnamese doll from Craft Link. She came with a little non la, but we weren’t sure about the safety of the lacquer on it going in the baby’s mouth, so it came off. Ella’s first dolly now sits on her dresser at home.

We had heard about Craft Link and wanted to shop there,... more