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Months ago, when Ethan’s default answer to every question was “no,” we’d ask him various questions. One time, for fun, we asked him if he wanted a little sister. As expected, he said, “no.” Since then, we’ve tried to keep him in the loop without overwhelming him with news of his new/future sister. When we … Read more
We announced 3 months ago that we are adopting again. Last Wednesday, we received a referral of a baby girl from Korea — up to two months earlier than expected! On Friday, we met with our caseworker to receive and review a packet of info including a description of the child, family history, medical information, … Read more
In a recent post about bonding, I referred to an article at adoptivefamilies.com, which includes the following statement … Attachment and adoption seem inseparable to many parents. In fact, attachment is an ongoing process for all parents and children, one that generally takes from 10 and 14 months and continues to evolve over a child’s … Read more
As we prepare for our second adoption, we’re again thinking about the importance of bonding, particularly in those first days, weeks, and months with the new baby. Adoptive Families magazine has articles devoted to bonding. I think the article, Your Baby, Yourself, is especially helpful in talking about the importance (and challenges) of bonding for … Read more
Earlier this month, on Mother’s Day actually, we announced that we are adopting again. We learned today that our paperwork was mailed to Korea yesterday. Now the wait for a referral begins (which will be our next major announcement)! Last time around, we received the referral of Ethan about two months after our paperwork went … Read more
Today, Joleen and I announced to our churches that we are going to adopt a second child. Once again, we are adopting an infant from Korea. We are requesting a girl. We are using the same agencies, Adoption Horizons (our local agency and caseworker) and Americans for International Aid and Adoption. We’re expecting AIAA to … Read more
We had the opportunity to spend Thursday and Friday in Pittsburgh to celebrate Gotcha Day. We got together with my best friend and roomie from college, Trish. We hadn’t seen each other in a number of years, so we stayed up late catching up and reminiscing and, of course, laughing hysterically at times (even after … Read more
There are special days in our lives, given to us to remember forever. This is one of those days. One year ago today, Ethan was placed in our arms. Already birthed in our hearts the first time we saw his picture in September (It’s a Boy!), on February 12, 2008 we were united physically. Randy … Read more
One year ago today, we met Ethan for the first time in his foster family’s home where we spent an hour together, getting acquainted — well, technically it was February 11, 2008 (10:00 am) in Seoul, Korea, but it was February 10, 2008 (8:00 pm) in the Eastern Time Zone, which is the time zone … Read more
One year ago today, we embarked on a memorable 30-hour adventure (from State College, PA to Seoul, Korea) to welcome Ethan into our lives (a few days later). When we finally arrived in our room at the guest house we blogged the experience in a post called 30 Hours. We invite you to relive the … Read more