I wish everyone could see that the vast majority of the time, things at our house are happy and fun and not in the least out of control. The wildness we embrace is the intentional kind, the “let-yourself-loose-and-cut-a-rug” kind. Not the “we-can’t-control-these-infernal-hooligans and now-we’re-miserable-and-what-were-we-thinking” kind. I’m continually amazed that people assume our lives must be drudgery and that we must simply be gluttons for punishment. If adopting children made us miserable, believe me – we’d stop! It baffles me that people can’t see that... more

Last night when we called the kids into our room for prayer, everyone was acting a little wild and crazy. OK, they were acting a LOT wild and crazy. No matter what we said or did, no one seemed to be able to settle down and get ready for the prayer, let alone the rest of our bedtime routine. Curtis, my husband, looked like he was getting a little frustrated with the lack of cooperation, so I whispered in Maizie’s ear, “Go tickle Dad.” Before he knew what hit him, he had nine kids dog-piling on top of him and tickling him from every angle. The kids were giggling... more

For information about applying for a social security card for an internationally adopted child: link

For a domestically adopted child: link

And for those concerned about the proposed USCIS rate increases, the public is invited to comment on the proposals until April 2. Below is the pertinent information:

Fees are increasing at USCIS. The following is an outline on how the increase affects adoption. Please feel free to forward this message to any agency, listserv, group or individual who may... more

Which leads me to the other reason I’ve been pulling my hair out this week. I appreciate the Child Citizenship Act, I really do. It was wonderful to get our newest children’s Certificates sent automatically rather than having to file a bunch of paperwork and submit a large fee. The problem is, our Haitian kids’ certificates came with names assigned by the Haitian courts, rather than the names we’d chosen for the kids. At $220 apiece for corrected Certificates, I decided to put this off until I have a spare $660 lying around (ha!). Unfortunately, I discovered that the United States Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) department is proposing a rate increase (aren’t they always?) that will... more

Or, How to Drive Yourself Nuts in Five Simple Steps

Boy, when it rains, it pours! This has started out to be a CRAZY busy week, and I feel badly that it’s taken me a few days to finally get a post up. When I was mulling over some of the topics I’ve been considering, I decided to write about something that’s been occupying a bit of my time over the past few days: getting social security numbers for our newly adopted children.

Being the tax season procrastinators that we are, I hadn’t given much thought to the fact that I hadn’t yet applied for the new kids’ social security numbers. In the rare moments it crossed my mind over the last months, a cloudy of... more

My husband has an uncanny ability to fall asleep even during the most chaotic and stressful moments of life. He swears by naps and insists that his view of the world is rosier after he’s caught his forty winks. He takes his Sabbath resting responsibilities quite seriously and catches the odd snooze after work and even AT work, if the opportunity presents itself. (And before anyone calls the ethics police, he is self-employed. ;) )

On each of our adoption trips, as I’ve been busily repacking suitcases, filling out paperwork, emailing family back home, or having a minor (or not-so-minor) panic attack over the dramatic changes that are taking place in our lives, my husband…

simply…... more

11. Do what Mormon women do best – quilt! OK, that’s a joke. At least to me. I couldn’t quilt to save my life and have to feign illness to save myself from humiliation on quilting Enrichment Nights. But whatever “crafty” things you may know how to do, or whatever hobbies you’re interested in, do them. For me, a valance and a few poorly sewn flannel baby blankets constituted the totality of my sewing efforts, but I did throw myself into the decorating of my new children’s rooms, spent time learning to cook new things, and partook of... more

9. Take a vacation. Everyone knows that finances can be tight in the midst of an adoption, but even if you can’t afford a deluxe Caribbean cruise, you can still plan a last couple-only (or smaller family-only) fling. Putting your plans off into the future a bit (but not so far that they could possibly conflict with your adoption schedule) will give you something fun to look forward to and help take your mind off the wait. Plan a long weekend in a city within a day’s drive. Go camping. Go visit grandparents. If you can’t spare a few... more

7. Diet/exercise. This is “do as I say and not as I do” case. ;) My goal with each adoption has been to LOSE as much weight as I would have gained if I were pregnant, so about 30 pounds. For the sake of full disclosure, I haven’t reached my goal on the first three adoptions, but I’m off to a good start with this one! Happy thoughts, happy thoughts… Anyway, especially since your time will be more limited once you have a new family member, it’s a good idea to use the wait time to get into better shape, eat healthier, and tackle other... more

5. Let someone throw you a shower. Even if you don’t know exactly the age and gender of the child you’ll be adopting, a shower is practically a rite of passage for expectant moms and shouldn’t be denied them just because they happen to be adopting an 8 year old. If you know the size and gender of your child-to-be, a traditional shower will work just fine. If you don’t, the shower can be limited to toys, gift certificates, gifts to help pamper mom, “coupons” a la “This coupon good for one free night of babysitting,” etc.

6. Start... more